GRANT        IN        THE        WILDERNESS  MAY        5,        1864 


A  HISTORY 


OF 

THE  CIVIL 

1861-65 
AND  THE  CAUSES  THAT  LED  UP  TO  THE  GREAT  CONFLICT 

BY 

BENSON  J.  LOSSING,  LL.D. 

\  i 

AND 

A   CHRONOLOGICAL    SUMMARY  AND   RECORD 

OF  EVERY  ENGAGEMENT  BETWEEN  THE  TROOPS  OF  THE  UNION  AND  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY 

AND  SHOWING  THE  TOTAL  LOSSES  AND  CASUALTIES  TOGETHER 

WITH  WAR  MAPS  OF  LOCALITIES 

COMPILED  FROM 

THE  OFFICIAL  RECORDS  OF  THE  WAR  DEPARTMENT 


ILLUSTRATED 

WITH    FAC-SIMILE    PHOTOGRAPHIC   REPRODUCTIONS 
OF  THE  OFFICIAL  WAR  PHOTOGRAPHS 

TAKEN  AT  THE  TIME  BY 

MATHEW   B.  BRADY 

UNDER  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN  AND  NOW  IN  THE  POSSESSION  OF  THE 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

FROM  WHOM  SPECIAL  PERMISSION  HAS  BEEN  GRANTED  TO  REPRODUCE  THE  SAME  TO  ILLUSTRATE  THIS  WORK 


FROM  THE  FAMOUS  AND  AUTHENTIC  BRADY  WAR  PHOTOGRAPH  COLLECTION  THERE  HAS  BEEN  SELECTED  PORTRAITS  OF  THE  GREAT  COMMANDERS  AND 

LEADERS  OF  BOTH  THE  UNION  AND  CONFEDERATE  ARMIES  AND  NAVIES,  AND  MANY  SCENES  OF  GREAT  HISTORICAL  INTEREST,  TAKEN  FIFTY 

YEARS  AGO  AND  MAKING  A  MARVELOUS  FAC-SIMILE  REPRODUCTION  OF  THE  BATTLEGROUNDS,  FORTIFICATIONS,  THE  DEAD  AND 

WOUNDED,  HOSPITALS,  AND  INCIDENTS  OF  THE  GREATEST  CONFLICT  THIS  COUNTRY  HAS  EVER  KNOWN  AND 

FITTINGLY  COMMEMORATING  THE 

FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY  OF  THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  STRUGGLE 

THE  ENTIRE  WORK,  ISSUED  IN  SIXTEEN  SECTIONS,  WITH  SIXTEEN  SEPARATE  COLOR  PLATES  OF 

GREAT  COMMANDERS  IN  ACTION  AND  FAMOUS  BATTLE  SCENES  FROM  THE  PAINTING 

OF  H.  A.  OGDEN  AND  OTHER  FAMOUS  ARTISTS  OF  MILITARY  SUBJECTS 


NEW  YORK 

THE  WAR  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION 


LOSSING— BRADY— OGDEN 


BENSON  J.  LOSSING,  LL.  D. 


BENSON  J.  LOSSING,  LL.  D. — the  author  of  A  History  of  the  Civil  War  1861-65 — was  more  than  a  historian, 
and  he  was  more  than  an  engaging  writer,  though  to  be  sure  he  was  both  of  these.  He  was  also  a  great  authority;  a 
court  of  last  resort  for  facts  and  data.  He  knew  how  to  write  history  and  he  gathered  his  material  in  a  manner  all 
his  own.  Charles  Dudley  Warner  said  of  him,  "In  reading  the  historical  works  of  Lossing,  one  is  amazed  that  any 
human  being  could  carry  so  much  information,  and  yet  carry  it  so  lightly.  His  vast  array  of  facts  did  not  seem  to 
bear  him  down;  he  was  as  buoyant  as  cork  and  as  light  as  a  feather." 

John  Morley,  in  writing  of  Dr.  Lossing,  said,  "  To  be  interesting  and  at  the  same  time  authentic — to  be  patri 
otic  and  at  the  same  time  impartial — to  be  at  once  a  reader  for  young  and  old — this  was  his  peculiar  genius,  and  in 
this  he  was  supreme." 

Brander  Matthews  said,  "He  was  the  most  conscientious  and  thorough  writer  of  history  this  country  has 
produced." 

Sir  Walter  Besant  once  said  that  it  is  easier  to  make  history  than  it  is  to  write  it,  and  that  it  is  not  so  diffi 
cult  to  conduct  a  battle  as  it  is  to  describe  one.  Whether  this  be  literally  true  or  not,  there  is  little  doubt  that  writing 
history  is  one  thing,  and  writing  history  that  the  world  will  read  is  quite  another.  The  power  to  state  facts  accur 
ately,  and  yet  to  fill  them  with  charm  and  interest  is  the  gift  that  has  been  given  to  few  men.  Dr.  Lossing  had  this 
supreme  gift.  He  wrote  a  score  of  fascinating  books,  and  his  writing  was  as  graceful  and  natural  as  the  flight  of  a 
bird.  He  was  a  veritable  wizard  of  the  pen.  Such  a  man  was  he  in  his  peculiar  field  that  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes 
said  of  him  that  he  had  done  more  than  any  other  man  to  make  history  interesting  and  popular.  His  History  of  the 
Civil  War  was  written  at  the  time  when  the  facts  were  fresh.  Lossing  was  intimately  acquainted  with  the  great 
leaders  of  the  country.  He  conversed  with  President  Lincoln,  Generals  Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan,  and  other 

great  men  of  the  time.  He  heard  them  talk  and  noted  what  they  told  him.  He  secured  the  stories  and  opinions  of  those  who  had  been  concerned  in 
what  he  described.  He  traveled  the  country  over  and  visited  the  scenes  and  battle-grounds  of  the  great  National  conflict  and  was  able  to  tell  what  he  had 
seen  and  heard — and  with  the  pen  of  a  genius.  As  we  read,  all  is  alive  and  real.  The  events,  the  battles  of  the  war,  the  triumphs  and  defeats  are  told 
faithfully  and  vividly.  It  was  Lossing's  purpose  to  make  this  history  familiar  to  all,  and  by  doing  so,  to  kindle  in  this  natural,  wholesome  way  the  spirit  of 
patriotism.  The  reader  is  carried  on  from  page  to  page,  from  chapter  to  chapter,  with  an  ever-compelling  interest  that  makes  it  difficult  to  pause.  There  is 
nothing  tedious  or  dull;  every  character  is  real,  and  all  the  thrilling  events  and  scenes  seem  to  be  filled  with  new  interest  and  life.  Lossing  put  his  vast 
learning  into  this  work.  He  wished  it  to  be  regarded  as  a  memorial  to  him.  He  died  loaded  with  glory  and  honors.  A  dozen  great  colleges  had  conferred 
on  him  scholarly  and  honorary  degrees,  and  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  in  New  York  City  had  made  him  an  Honorary  Fellow  for  life. 

MATHEW  B.  BRADY,  who  photographed  the  Civil  War  1861-65  and  sold  his  wonderful  collection  of  negatives  to 
the  United  States  Government,  was  unique  as  a  photographic  artist.  The  reproduction  of  his  famous  War  negatives 
shows  in  this  History  of  the  Civil  War  that  he  was  fifty  years  in  advance  of  his  time,  for  many  of  his  photographs  com 
pare  favorably  with  the  best  quality  of  work  to-day.  That  he  was  well  equipped  for  this  great  work  is  shown  by  his 
remarkable  career.  In  the  early  50's,  he  was  the  representative  photographic  artist  of  the  day.  His  studios  on  Broadway, 
New  York  City,  were  patronized  by  the  famous  men  and  women  of  the  period.  The  list  of  famous  men  and  women 
who  posed  before  his  magic  camera  is  too  long  to  receive  more  than  passing  mention  in  this  brief  notice.  A  few  of  the 
prominent  negatives  now  in  the  possession  of  the  United  States  Government  may,  however,  be  mentioned,  such  as 
portraits  of  Washington  Irving,  James  Fenimore  Cooper,  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  Walt  Whitman,  Charles  Dickens,  Nathaniel 
Hawthorne,  William  Cullen  Bryant,  John  G.  Saxe,  John  Lothrop  Motley,  and  the  great  authors  and  poets  of  the  period. 
Among  the  ex-presidents  may  be  mentioned  the  portraits  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Franklin  Pierce,  James  Buchanan, 
James  A.  Garfield,  while  the  members  of  the  stage  contributed  to  his  marvelous  collection  of  celebrities  such  portraits  as 
Edwin  Booth,  Joseph  Jefferson,  Jenny  Lind,  Dion  Boucicault,  J.  C.  Howard,  the  actor  and  father  of  the  first  little  Eva 
of  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  A  few  of  the  famous  men  and  women  of  the  time  may  be  mentioned  as  Horace  Greeley, 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Clara  Barton — the  founder  of  the  world-famous  Red  Cross  Society — Edward  Everett,  Ben  Per- 
ley  Poor,  Granville  Dodge — the  famous  engineer — General  Sam  Houston,  Henry  Grinnell,  famous  Arctic  Explorer. 
This  list,  taken  at  random  from  thousands,  shows  beyond  dispute  that  Brady  was  the  leader  in  his  profession. 
The  most  important  of  all  Brady's  work,  as  General  Greeley  says,  is  his  marvelous  collection  of  Civil  War  photographs. 
It  was  Brady  who  left  his  profitable  business  to  take  pictures  of  the  War.  He  secured  permission  from  President 
Lincoln,  and  under  the  protection  of  Allan  Pinkerton  of  the  Secret  Service  Bureau,  Brady  and  his  men  started  taking 
pictures,  thinking  that  the  War  would  not  last  more  than  two  or  three  months,  but  for  four  long,  weary  years,  they 
were  actively  at  work  throughout  the  country,  and  his  wonderful  collection  of  negatives  of  the  great  historical  scenes 
and  portraits  of  the  leaders  on  both  sides  now  attest  to  his  energetic  and  remarkable  work.  It  was  these  negatives  that  he  sold  to  the  United  States  Government, 
and  by  special  permission  of  the  War  Department,  reproductions  have  been  made  direct  from  the  originals  which  so  fittingly  illustrate,  as  nothing  else  could 
do,  the  vivid  text  of  Dr.  Lossing  in  this  History  of  the  Civil  War.  General  Grant,  Butler  and  Garfield  valued  this  collection  at  $150,000.  As  it  turns  out 
to-day,  this  valuation  was  remarkably  conservative.  Yet  Brady  sold  the  negatives  to  the  Government  for  $27,840.  (See  General  Greeley's  report  on  page 
four).  The  reproduction  of  these  famous  negatives  at  this  time  by  permission  of  the  War  Department  not  only  commemorates  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
War  for  the  Nation,  buc  will  leave  a  memorial  to  Mathew  B.  Brady  for  future  generations  as  the  photographic  genius  of  his  time. 

HENRY  A.  OGDEN  stands  in  the  front  rank  of  American  painters  of  Colonial  and  Military  subjects.  By  long 
and  careful  study  he  developed  an  ability  amounting  to  genius  in  the  portraiture  of  Colonial  subjects  and  Army  men 
and  scenes.  He  is  the  great  grandson  of  a  Revolutionary  hero  who  defended  Bunker  Hill.  His  artistic  ability  in  his 
toric  art  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Quarter-Master  General  of  the  United  States  Army,  by  whom  he  was  engaged 
under  authority  of  Congress  to  paint  the  designs  for  color  plates  of  all  the  uniforms  of  the  Army  from  the  time  of 
Washington.  He  made  them  much  more  than  a  pictorial  record  of  the  various  forms  of  dress  which  have  been  used  in 
the  Army  since  its  beginning  in  1775.  While  they  show  with  accurate  detail  every  change  in  the  dress  of  officers  and 
soldiers,  he  has  also,  whenever  possible,  made  his  pictures  portraits  of  men  who  were  prominent  in  the  Army  at  the 
time  represented  by  the  picture.  And  his  strong  dramatic  sense  has  caused  him  to  portray  each  group  of  men  as 
typical  of  the  time  to  which  they  belonged,  and  to  make  them  appear  alive,  vigorous,  and  intensely  interesting.  He 
did  this  great  work  with  the  complete  approval  of  the  Government  authorities  of  the  War  Department. 

Mr.  Ogden's  famous  battlefield  collection  of  the  Civil  War  is  reproduced  in  colors  as  frontispieces  for  eight  of  the 
sections  of  this  history,  where  we  find  eight  great  Union  commanders  not  merely  in  the  scenes  of  battle,  but  in  a  critical 
moment,  in  some  sharp  climax  or  decisive  movement  that  parses  into  history  in  the  lives  of  these  military  heroes  at  a 
great  hour — what  a  great  man  is  in  his  greatest  moment  and  pleasures,  sums  him,  comprehends  him.  Mr.  Ogden  has 
executed  this  work  with  rare  ability  and  skill.  As  the  sections  of  this  work  are  received,  great  military  events  will  be 
found  as  colored  frontispieces  to  each  section. 

Mr.  Ogden  now  has  his  studio  in  the  tall  Times  Building,  New  York,  in  the  busiest  part  of  Broadway,  where 
he  looks  out  over  square  miles  of  housetops  and  in  his  imagination  sees  instead  the  fields  and  forests  of  Manhattan 
Island  as  it  was  in  the  Colonial  days  he  loves  to  paint.  Among  the  many  of  Mr.  Ogden's  delightful  and  historical 
paintings  may  be  mentioned  "Washington's  Last  Birthday,  February  22,  1799,"  which  was  also  the  wedding  day  of 
Nellie  Custis,  Mrs.  Washington's  granddaughter.  It  is  the  most  charming  in  sentiment  and  delicate  detail  of  all  Mr. 
Ogden's  work. 

Mr.  Ogden  is  yet  in  early  middle  life  and  in  all  human  likelihood  has  before  him  many  fertile  years.  It  is  grati 
fying  to  find  him  still  holding  to  the  best  of  the  old  traditions  and  not  afraid  to  paint  an  interesting  picture  that  will  realize  something  of  the  lives  and  thoughts 
and  feelings  of  the  men  and  women  of  other  days. 

Additional  to  Mr.  Ogden's  famous  series  are  eight  great  battle  scenes  and  naval  engagements  by  Mr.  Thulstrup,  Davidson  and  other  artists  of  military 
•ubjects. 


MATHEW  B.  BRADY 


HENRY  A.  OGDEN 


Copyright,  1895,  by  CHARLES  F.  JOHNSON.     Copyright,  1905,  by  LOSSING  HISTORY  COMPANY.     Copyright,  1912,  by  THE  WAR  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION. 


PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S  ADDRESS  AT  GETTYSBURG 

NOVEMBER  19,  1863 


FOUR  score  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth  on  this  continent  a  new  nation  conceived  in  liberty,  and  dedicated  to  the 
proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal.  Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war;  testing  whether  thab  nation,  or  any  nation  so  con 
ceived,  and  so  dedicated,  can  long  endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battlefield  of  that  war.  We  have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  that 
field  as  a  final  resting-place  for  those  who  here  gave  their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fitting  and  proper  that  we 
should  do  this. 

But,  in  a  larger  sense,  we  cannot  dedicate — we  cannot  consecrate — we  cannot  hallow — this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living  and 
dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it,  far  above  pur  poor  power  to  add  or  detract.  The  world  will  little  note  nor  long  remember 
what  we  say  here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is  for  us,  the  living,  rather,  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished 
work  which  they  who  fought  here  have  thus  far  so  nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining 
before  us — that  from  these  honored  dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for  which  they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion — 
that  we  here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain — that  this  nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom — • 
and  that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

252 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


WAR  DEPARTMENT  LIBRARY, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  i,  1897. 

Extracts  from  the  report  of  A.  W.  Greeley,  Brigadier-General  and  Chief  Signal  Officer  in  supervisory  charge  of 
War  Department  Library,  referring  to  the  photographs  in  the  War  Library: 

By  far  the  greater  number,  and  by  all  means  the  most  important,  of  these  negatives 
are  those  generally  known  as  the  Brady  War  Photographs,  which  reproduce  scenes  and 
portraits  connected  with  the  War  of  the  Union.  From  their  value,  importance,  and 
present  condition  a  brief  post-bellum  history  of  these  negatives  is  most  appropriate. 
It  appears  that  on  January  29,  1866,  the  council  of  the  National  Academy  of  Design, 
D.  Huntington,  President,  adopted  a  resolution  reciting  the  value  of  this  collection  as 
a  reliable  authority  for  art  and  as  illustrative  of  American  History.  They  strongly, 
recommended  the  proposal  to  place  the  collection  permanently  in  the  keeping  of  the 
New  York  Historical  Society. 

Relative  to  the  proposition  of  its  owner,  Mr.  Mathew  B.  Brady,  to  exhibit  the 
collection  temporarily  in  the  galleries  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  Lieut. -General 
U.  S.  Grant,  in  a  letter  dated  February  3,  1866,  spoke  of  it  as  "a  collection  of  photo  • 
graphic  views  of  battlefields,  etc.,  taken  on  the  spot  while  the  occurrences  represented  were 
taking  place"  and  adds,  "I  knew  when  many  of  these  representations  were  being  taken, 
and  have  in  my  possession  most  of  them,  and  I  can  say  that  the  scenes  are  not  only 
spirited  and  correct,  but  also  well  chosen.  The  collection  will  be  valuable  to  the  student 
and  artist  of  the  present  generation,  but  how  much  more  valuable  to  future  generations." 

Brady  in  his  descriptive  circular  spoke  of  the  collection  as  then  embracing  the 
results  of  twenty-five  years,  including: 

First :  ' '  Portraits  of  many  distinguished  men  who  figured  in  the  early  years  of  the 
present  century." 

"Likenesses  of  all  prominent  actors  in  the  war  with  Mexico." 
Portraits  of  eminent  men  and  women  of  the  whole  country." 
"Battlefields  of  the  rebellion  and  its  memorable  localities  with  groups  and  likenesses  of  the  prominent 


GEN.  A.  W.  GREELEY 


Second : 
Third:  " 
Fourth: 

actors." 

************* 

The  first  active  connection  of  the  Government  with  the  Brady  collection  appears  in  the  action  of  the  Secretary  of 
War  William  W.  Belknap  who  purchased  for  the  War  Department  in  July,  1874,  as  shown  by  his  letter  of  August  7th 
to  the  Adjutant-General,  a  large  number  of  photographic  negatives  of  war  views  and  pictures  of  prominent  men  at 

an  expense  of  $2,840.00. 

************* 

On  motion  of  General  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  member  of  Massachusetts,  a  paragraph  was  inserted  in  the  Sundry 
Civil  Appropriation  Bill  (Act  approved  March  3,  1873)  reading:  To  enable  the  Secretary  of  War  to  acquire  a  full 
and  perfect  title  to  the  Brady  collection  of  photographs  of  the  War,  and  to  secure  and  purchase  the  remainder  now 
in  the  possession  of  the  artist  for  $25,000.00.  In  connection  with  the  amendment,  General  Butler  said: 

"  The  title  under  which  the  Secretary  of  War  purchased  the  part  already  obtained  was  acquired  for  non-payment 
of  storage.  It  is  very  doubtful  whether  the  Secretary  of  War  has  a  valid  title." 

General  James  A.  Garfield  joined  Butler  in  the  statement  "that  the  commercial  value  of  the  entire  collection 
was  $150,000.00  and  Garfield  stated  that  the  part  bought  for  $2,500.00  covered  three-quarters  of  the  collection." 

The  sum  of  $25,000 .  oo  thus  appropriated  was  paid  April  15,  1875,  the  voucher  reading,  "For  the  Brady  collection 

of  photographs  of  the  War  and  a  conveyance  of  a  full  and  perfect  title  to  the  same." 

************* 

The  Comptroller  said  of  these  Brady  negatives,  "The  photographic  views  of  the  War,  showing  battlefields, 
military  divisions,  fortifications,  etc.,  are  among  the  most  authentic  and  valuable  records  of  the  Rebellion.  The 
preservation  of  these  interesting  records  of  the  War  is  too  important  to  be  intrusted  to  glass  plates,  so  easily  destroyed 

by  accident  or  design,  and  no  more  effective  means  than  printing  them  can  be  devised  to  save  them  from  destruction." 
************* 

This  collection  cost  the  United  States  originally  the  sum  of  $27,840.  oo,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  general  regret  that 
these  invaluable  reproductions  of  scenes  and  faces  connected  with  the  late  civil  conflict  should  remain  inaccessible 
to  the  general  public.  The  features  of  most  of  the  prominent  actors  connected  with  the  War  of  the  Union  have  been 
preserved  in  these  negatives,  where  also  are  portrayed  certain  physical  aspects  of  the  War  that  are  of  interest  and  of 
historic  value,  certain  artistic  processes  now  lend  themselves  to  suitable  reproduction  of  these  photographs  which 
could  thus  be  given  permanency,  impossible  for  the  deteriorating  negatives,  at  an  expense  which  a  few  years  since 
would  have  appeared  impossibly  small. 

General  Greeley  states  further,  "It  is  hoped  that  recommendations  already  made  by  Chief  Signal  Officer  of  the 
Army  may  at  an  appropriate  time  receive  the  approval  of  the  War  Department  and  that  Congress  may  authorize 
the  reproduction  of  the  most  valuable  and  important  photographs." 


The  War  Department  has  given  permission,  and  furnished  photographs  of  the  most  valuable  and  important  pictures 
direct  from  the  Brady  negatives,  for  reproduction  as  shown  in  this  edition  of  Lossing's  "History  of  the  Civil  War." 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CONFEDERATE  LINES — NORTH  OF   ATLANTA — BETWEEN  PEACH  TREE  STREET  AND  CHATTANOOGA  R.R.,  1864. 


THE  NEW  SOUTH* 

THERE  was  a  South  of  slavery  and  secession — that  South  is  dead.  There  is  a  South  of  union  and  freedom — that  South,  thank  God, 
is  living,  breathing,  growing  every  hour. 

These  words,  delivered  from  the  immortal  lips  of  Benjamin  H.  Hill,  at  Tammany  Hall  in  1866,  true  then  and  truer  now,  I  shall 
make  my  text  to-night. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen — Let  me  express  to  you  my  appreciation  of  the  kindness  by  which  I  am  permitted  to  address  you. 
I  make  this  abrupt  acknowledgment  advisedly,  for  I  feel  that  if,  when  I  raise  my  provincial  voice  in  this  ancient  and  august  presence,  I 
could  find  courage  for  no  more  than  the  opening  sentence,  it  would  be  well  if  in  that  sentence  I  had  met  in  a  rough  sense  my  obligation 
as  a  guest,  and  had  perished,  so  to  speak,  with  courtesy  on  my  lips  and  grace  in  my  heart.  Permitted,  through  your  kindness,  to  catch 
my  second  wind,  let  me  say  that  I  appreciate  the  significance  of  being  the  first  Southerner  to  speak  at  this  board,  which  bears  the  substance, 
if  it  surpasses  the  semblance,  of  original  New  England  hospitality,  and  honors  the  sentiment  that  in  turn  honors  you,  but  in  which  my 

personalitv  is  lost  and  the  compliment  to  my  people  made  plain. 

***'********** 

My  friends,  Dr.  Talmagc  has  told  you  that  the  typical  American  has  yet  to  come.  Let  me  tell  you  that  he  has  already  come. 
Great  types,  like  valuable  plants,  are  slow  to  flower  and  fruit.  But  from  the  union  of  these  colonies,  Puritans  and  Cavaliers,  from  the 
straightening  of  their  purposes  and  the  crossing  of  their  blood,  slow  perfecting  through  a  century,  came  he  who  stands  as  the  first  typical 
American,  the  first  who  comprehended  within  himself  all  the  strength  and  gentleness,  all  the  majesty  and  grace  of  this  republic — Abraham 
Lincoln. 

He  was  the  sum  of  Puritan  and  Cavalier,  for  in  his  ardent  nature  were  fused  the  virtues  of  both,  and  in  the  depths  of  his  great 
soul  the  faults  of  both  were  lost.  He  was  greater  than  Puritan,  greater  than  Cavalier,  in  that  he  was  American,  and  that  in  his  honest 
form  were  first  gathered  the  vast  and  thrilling  forces  of  his  ideal  government — charging  it  with  such  tremendous  meaning  and  elevating 
it  above  human  suffering  that  martyrdom,  though  infamously  aimed,  came  as  a  fitting  crown  to  a  life  consecrated  from  the  cradle  to 
human  liberty.  Let  us,  each  cherishing  the  traditions  and  honoring  his  fathers,  build  with  reverend  hands  to  the  type  of  this  simple 
but  sublime  life,  in  which  all  types  are  honored,  and  in  our  common  glory  as  Americans  there  will  be  plenty  and  to  spare  for  your  fore 
fathers  and  for  mine. 

Dr.  Talmage  has  drawn  for  you,  with  a  master's  hand,  the  picture  of  your  returning  armies.  He  has  told  you  how,  in  the  pomp 
and  circumstance  of  war,  they  came  back  to  you,  marching  with  proud  and  victorious  tread,  reading  their  glory  in  a  nation's  eyes!  Will 
you  bear  with  me  while  I  tell  you  of  another  army  that  sought  its  home  at  the  close  of  the  late  w^: — an  army  that  marched  home  in 
defeat  and  not  in  victory — in  pathos  and  not  in  splendor,  but  in  glory  that  equalled  yours,  and  to  hearts  as  loving  as  ever  welcomed 
heroes  home!  Let  me  picture  to  you  the  footsore  Confederate  soldier,  as,  buttoning  up  in  his  faded  gray  jacket  the  parole  which  was  to 
bear  testimony  to  his  children  of  his  fidelity  and  faith,  he  turned  his  face  southward  from  Appomattox  in  April,  1865. 

Think  of  him  as  ragged,  half-starved,  heavy-hearted,  enfeebled  by  want  and  wounds,  having  fought  to  exhaustion,  he  surrenders 
his  gun,  wrings  the  hands  of  his  comrades  in  silence,  and  lifting  his  tear-stained  and  pallid  face  for  the  last  time  to  the  graves  that  dot 
old  Virginia  hills,  pulls  his  gray  cap  over  his  brow  and  begins  the  slow  and  painful  journey.  What  does  he  find — let  me  ask  you  who 
went  to  your  homes  eager  to  find,  in  the  welcome  you  had  justly  earned,  full  payment  for  four  years'  sacrifice — what  does  he  find  when, 
having  followed  the  battle-stained  cross  against  overwhelming  odds,  dreading  death  not  half  so  much  as  surrender,  he  reaches  the  home 
he  left  so  prosperous  and  beautiful' 

He  finds  his  house  in  ruins,  his  farm  devastated,  his  slaves  free,  his  stock  killed,  his  barns  empty,  his  trade  destroyed,  his  money 
worthless,  his  social  system,  feudal  in  its  magnificence,  swept  away;  his  people  without  law  or  legal  status,  his  comrades  slain,  and  the 
burdens  of  others  heavy  on  his  shoulders.  Crushed  by  defeat,  his  very  traditions  are  gone.  Without  money,  credit,  employment,  material 
or  training,  and,  besides  all  this,  confronted  with  the  gravest  problem  that  ever  met  human  intelligence — the  establishing  of  a  status  for 
the  vast  body  of  his  liberated  slaves. 

What  does  he  do — this  hero  in  gray  with  a  heart  of  gold?  Does  he  sit  down  in  sullenness  and  despair?  Not  for  a  day.  Surely 
God,  who  had  stripped  him  of  his  prosperity,  inspired  him  in  his  adversity.  As  ruin  was  never  before  so  overwhelming,  never  was 
restoration  swifter.  The  soldier  stepped  from  the  trenches  into  the  furrow;  horses  that  had  charged  Federal  guns  marched  before  the 
plow,  and  fields  that  ran  red  with  human  blood  in  April  were  green  with  the  harvest  in  June;  women  reared  in  luxury  cut  up  their  dresses 
and  made  breeches  for  their  husbands,  and,  with  a  patience  and  heroism  that  fit  women  always  as  a  garment,  gave  their  hands  to  work. 
There  was  little  bitterness  in  all  this.  Cheerfulness  and  frankness  prevailed. 

I  want  to  say  to  General  Sherman,  who  is  considered  an  able  man  in  our  parts,  though  some  people  think  he  is  a  kind  of  careless 
man  about  fire,  that  from  the  ashes  he  left  us  in  1864  we  have  raised  a  brave  and  beautiful  city;  that  somehow  or  other  we  have  caught 
the  sunshine  in  the  bricks  and  mortar  of  our  homes,  and  have  builded  therein  not  one  ignoble  prejudice  or  memory. 

But  what  is  the  sum  of  our  work?  We  have  found  out  that  in  the  summing  up  the  free  negro  counts  more  than  he  did  as  a  slave. 
We  have  planted  the  schoolhouse  on  the  hill-top  and  made  it  free  to  white  and  black.  We  have  sowed  towns  and  cities  in  the  place  of 

*  It  seems  appropriate  to  print  in  advance  of  the  History  of  the  Civil  War  extracts  from  the  address  delivered  by  Henry  W.  Grady,  a  famous 
orator  and  editor  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  before  the  Xew  England  Club,  New  York,  December  21,  1886. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


theories,  and  put  business  above  politics.  We  have  challenged  your  spinners  in  Massachusetts  and  your  iron-makers  in  Pennsylvania. 
We  have  learned  that  the  8400,000,000  annually  received  from  our  cotton  crop  will  make  us  rich  when  the  supplies  that  make  it  are 
home-raised.  We  have  reduced  the  commercial  rate  of  interest  from  twenty -four  to  six  per  cent.,  and  are  floating  four  per  cent,  bonds. 

We  have  learned  that  one  Northern  immigrant  is  worth  fifty  foreigners;  and  have  smoothed  the  path  to  southward,  wiped  out  the 
place  where  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  used  to  be,  and  hung  out  our  latch-string  to  you  and  yours.  We  have  reached  the  point  that  marks 
perfect  harmony  in  every  household,  when  the  husband  confesses  that  the  pies  which  his  wife  cooks  are  as  good  as  those  his  mother  used 
to  bake;  and  we  admit  that  the  sun  shines  as  brightly  and  the  moon  as  softly  as  it  did  before  the  war.  We  have  established  thrift  in 
city  and  country.  We  have  fallen  in  love  with  our  work.  We  have  restored  comfort  to  homes  from  which  culture  and  elegance  never 
departed.  We  have  let  economy  take  root  and  spread  among  us  as  rank  as  the  crabgrass  which  sprung  from  Sherman's  cavalry  camps, 
until  we  are  ready  to  lay  odds  on  the  Georgia  Yankee  as  he  manufactures  relics  of  the  battlefield  in  a  one-story  shanty  and  squeezes  pure 
olive  oil  out  of  his  cotton  seed,  against  any  Down-Easter  that  ever  swapped  wooden  nutmegs  for  flannel  sausage  in  the  valleys  of  Vermont. 
Above  all,  we  know  that  we  have  achieved  in  these  "piping  times  of  peace"  a  fuller  independence  for  the  South  than  that  which  our 
fathers  sought  to  win  in  the  forum  by  their  eloquence  or  compel  in  the  field  by  their  swords. 

It  is  a  rare  privilege,  sir,  to  have  had  part,  however  humble,  in  this  work.  Never  was  nobler  duty  confided  to  human  hands  than 
the  uplifting  and  upbuilding  of  the  prostrate  and  bleeding  South — misguided,  perhaps,  but  beautiful  in  her  suffering,  and  honest,  brave, 
and  generous  always.  In  the  record  of  her  social,  industrial,  and  political  illustration  we  await  with  confidence  the  verdict  of  the  world. 

But  what  of  the  negro?  Have  we  solved  the  problem  he  presents  or  progressed  in  honor  and  equity  toward  solution?  Let  the 
record  speak  to  the  point.  No  section  shows  a  more  prosperous  laboring  population  than  the  negroes  of  the  South,  none  in  fuller  sympathy 
with  the  employing  and  land-owning  class.  He  shares  our  school  fund,  has  the  fullest  protection  of  our  laws  and  the  friendship  of  our 
people.  Self-interest  as  well  as  honor  demand  that  he  should  have  this.  Our  future,  our  very  existence,  depend  upon  working  out  this 
problem  in  full  and  exact  justice. 

We  understand  that  when  Lincoln  signed  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  your  victory  was  assured,  for  he  then  committed  you  to 
the  cause  of  human  liberty,  against  which  the  arms  of  man  cannot  prevail — while  those  of  our  statesmen  who  trusted  to  make  slavery 
the  corner-stone  of  the  Confederacy  doomed  us  to  defeat  as  far  as  they  could,  committing  us  to  a  cause  that  reason  could  not  defend  or 
the  sword  maintain  in  sight  of  advancing  civilization. 

*************** 

The  relations  of  the  Southern  people  with  the  negro  are  close  and  cordial.  We  remember  with  what  fidelity  for  four  years  he  guarded 
our  defenceless  women  and  children,  whose  husbands  and  fathers  were  fighting  against  his  freedom.  To  his  eternal  credit  be  it  said  that 
whenever  he  struck  a  blow  for  his  own  liberty  he  fought  in  open  battle,  and  when  at  last  he  raised  his  black  and  humble  hands  that  the 
shackles  might  be  struck  off,  those  hands  were  innocent  of  wrong  against  his  helpless  charges,  and  worthy  to  be  taken  in  loving  grasp 
by  every  man  who  honors  loyalty  and  devotion. 

Ruffians  have  maltreated  him,  rascals  have  misled  him,  philanthropists  established  a  bank  for  him,  but  the  South,  with  the  North, 
protests  against  injustice  to  this  simple  and  sincere  people. 

But  have  we  kept  faith  with  you?  In  the  fullest  sense,  yes.  When  Lee  surrendered — I  don't  say  when  Johnston  surrendered,  because 
I  understand  he  still  alludes  to  the  time  when  he  met  General  Sherman  last  as  the  time  when  he  determined  to  abandon  any  further 
prosecution  of  the  struggle — when  Lee  surrendered,  I  say,  and  Johnston  quit,  the  South  became,  and  has  since  been,  loyal  to  this  Union. 

We  fought  hard  enough  to  know  that  we  were  whipped,  and  in  perfect  frankness  accept  as  final  the  arbitrament  of  the  sword  to 
which  we  had  appealed.  The  South  found  her  jewel  in  the  toad's  head  of  defeat.  The  shackles  that  had  held  her  in  narrow  limitations 
fell  forever  when  the  shackles  of  the  negro  slave  were  broken.  Under  the  old  regime  the  negroes  were  slaves  to  the  South;  the  South 
was  a  slave  to  the  system.  The  old  plantation,  with  its  simple  police  regulations  and  feudal  habit,  was  the  only  type  possible  under 
slavery.  Thus  was  gathered  in  the  hands  of  a  splendid  and  chivalric  oligarchy  the  substance  that  should  have  been  diffused  among  the 
people,  as  the  rich  blood,  under  certain  artificial  conditions,  is  gathered  at  the  heart,  filling  that  with  affluent  rapture,  but  leaving  the 
body  ch'ill  and  colorless. 

The  old  South  rested  everything  on  slavery  and  agriculture,  unconscious  that  these  could  neither  give  nor  maintain  healthy  growth. 
The  new  South  presents  a  perfect  democracy,  the  oligarchs  leading  in  the  popular  movement — a  social  system  compact  and  closely  knitted, 
less  splendid  on  the  surface,  but  stronger  at  the  core — a  hundred  farms  for  every  plantation,  fifty  homes  for  every  palace — and  a  diversified 
industry  that  meets  the  complex  need  of  this  complex  age. 

The  new  South  is  enamored  of  her  new  work.  Her  soul  is  stirred  with  the  breath  of  a  new  life.  The  light  of  a  grander  day  is 
falling  fair  on  her  face.  She  is  thrilling  with  the  consciousness  of  growing  power  and  prosperity.  As  she  stands  upright,  full  statured 
and  equal  among  the  people  of  the  earth,  breathing  the  keen  air  and  looking  out  upon  the  expanded  horizon,  she  understands  that  her 
emancipation  came  because  through  the  inscrutable  wisdom  of  God  her  honest  purpose  was  crossed,  and  her  brave  armies  were  beaten. 

This  is  said  in  no  spirit  of  time-serving  or  apology.  The  South  has  nothing  for  which  to  apologize.  She  believes  that  the  late 
struggle  between  the  States  was  war  and  not  rebellion;  revolution  and  not  conspiracy,  and  that  her  convictions  were  as  honest  as  yours. 
I  should  be  unjust  to  the  dauntless  spirit  of  the  South  and  to  my  own  convictions  if  I  did  not  make  this  plain  in  this  presence.  The 
South  has  nothing  to  take  back.  In  my  native  town  of  Athens  is  a  monument  that  crowns  its  central  hill — a  plain,  white  shaft.  Deep 
cut  into  its  shining  side  is  a  name  dear  to  me  above  the  names  of  men — that  of  a  brave  and  simple  man  who  died  in  a  brave  and  simple 
faith.  Not  for  all  the  glories  of  New  England,  from  Plymouth  Rock  all  the  way,  would  I  exchange  the  heritage  he  left  me  in  his  soldier's 
death.  To  the  foot  of  that  I  shall  send  my  children's  children  to  reverence  him  who  ennobled  their  name  with  his  heroic  blood.  But, 
sir,  speaking  from  the  shadow  of  that  memory  which  I  honor  as  I  do  nothing  else  on  earth,  I  say  that  the  cause  in  which  he  suffered 
and  for  which  he  gave  his  life  was  adjudged  by  higher  and  fuller  wisdom  than  his  or  mine,  and  I  am  glad  that  the  omniscient  God  held 
the  balance  of  battle  in  his  Almighty  hand  and  that  human  slavery  was  swept  forever  from  American  soil,  the  American  Union  was  saved 
from  the  wreck  of  war. 

This  message,  Mr.  President,  comes  to  you  from  consecrated  ground.  Every  foot  of  soil  about  the  city  in  which  I  live  is  as  sacred 
as  a  battleground  of  the  republic.  Every  hill  that  invests  it  is  hallowed  to  you  by  the  blood  of  your  brothers  who  died  for  your  victory, 
and  doubly  hallowed  to  us  by  the  blood  of  those  who  died  hopeless,  but  undaunted  in  defeat — sacred  soil  to  all  of  us — rich  with  memories 
that  make  us  purer  and  stronger  and  better — silent  but  staunch  witnesses,  in  its  red  desolation,  of  the  matchless  valor  of  American  hearts 
and  the  deathless  glory  of  American  arms — speaking  an  eloquent  witness  in  its  white  peace  and  prosperity  to  the  indissoluble  union  of 
American  States  and  the  imperishable  brotherhood  of  the  American  people. 

Now,  what  answer  has  New  England  to  this  message?  Will  she  permit  the  prejudice  of  war  to  remain  in  the  hearts  of  the  conquerors 
when  it  has  died  in  the" hearts  of  the  conquered?  Will  she  transmit  this  prejudice  to  the  next  generation  that  in  their  hearts  which  never 
felt  the  generous  ardor  of  conflict  it  may  perpetuate  itself?  Will  she  withhold,  save  in  strained  courtesy,  the  hand  which,  straight  from 
his  soldier's  heart,  Grant  offered  to  Lee  at  Appomattox?  Will  she  make  the  vision  of  a  restored  and  happy  people,  which  gathered  above 
the  couch  of  your  dying  captain,  filling  his  heart  with  grace;  touching  his  lips  with  praise,  and  glorifying  his  path  to  the  grave — will  she 
make  this  vision  on  which  the  last  sign  of  his  expiring  soul  breathed  a  benediction,  a  cheat  and  delusion?  If  she  does  the  South,  never 
abject  in  asking  for  comradeship,  must  accept  with  dignity  its  refusal;  but  if  she  does  not  refuse  to  accept  in  frankness  and  sincerity  this 
message  of  good  will  and  friendship,  then  will  the  prophecy  of  Webster,  delivered  in  this  very  Society  forty  years  ago  amid  tremendous 
applause,  become  true,  be  verified  in  its  fullest  sense,  when  he  said:  "Standing  hand  to  hand  and  clasping  hands,  we  should  remain  united 
as  we  have  been  for  sixty  years  citizens  of  the  same  country,  members  of  the  same  government  united,  all  united  now  and  forever." 
There  have  been  difficulties,  contentions,  and  controversies,  but  I  tell  you  that  in  my  judgment — • 

— "those  opened  eyes, 

Which,  like  the  meteors  of  a  troubled  heaven, 
All  of  one  nature,  of  one  substance  bred, 
Did  lately  meet  in  th'  intestine  shock. 
Shall  now,  in  mutual  well-beseeming  ranks, 
March  all  one  way." 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHAPTER   I. 

Causes  leading  to  Secession — The  Fugitive-Slave  Law — Fillmore's  administration — Election  of  General  Pierce — Senator  Douglas'  bill 
for  two  vast  Territories — Raids  in  Central  America — Struggle  begun  in  Kansas. 

IT  was  believed  by  superficial  thinkers  and  observers  that  the  Compromise  Act  of  1850  had  quieted, 
forever,  all  controversy  on  the  subject  of  slavery;  and  during  his  entire  administration,  President 
Fillmore  gave  his  support  to  all  the  measures  embraced  in  that  act.  When  his  administration  closed 
in  the  spring  of  1853,  there  seemed  to  be  very  little  uneasiness  in  the  public  mind  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 
But  it  was  only  the  ominous  calm  that  precedes  the  bursting  of  a  tempest.  The  moral  sense  of  the  people 
in  the  free-labor  States  (and  of  thousands  in  the  slave-labor  States)  had  been  shocked  by  the  passage  of 
the  Fugitive-Slave  Law,  which  compelled  every  person  to  become  a  slave-catcher,  under  certain  circum 
stances,  willing  or  not  willing.  That  law  was  so  much  at  variance  with  Christian  ethics  and  the  civilization 
of  the  age,  that  a  multitude  of  persons  in  all  parts  of  the  Union  yearned  to  see  it  wiped  from  our  national 
statute-books  as  an  ugly  blot;  and,  pondering  upon  it,  many  persons  who  had  been  indifferent,  felt  a 
desire  to  have  a  check  put  upon  the  further  expansion  of  the  system  of  slavery  in  our  republic. 


This  feeling,  and  the 
supporters  of  that  system 
not  a  mere  sectional  in- 
collisions  in  speech,  and, 
civil  war.  The  Fugitive- 
James  M.  Mason  of  Vir- 
bringing  on  that  terrible 
When  Mr.  Fillmore's 
ing  to  a  close,  nominations 
made.  A  Democratic  na- 
bled  at  Baltimore,  in  June, 
Franklin  Pierce,  of  New 
and  William  R.  King,  of 
dent.  A  Whig  national 
the  same  place  in  the  same 
General  Winficld  Scott  for 
Graham  of  North  Carolina 
Democratic  nominees  were 
March,  1853,  President 
life.  One  of  the  most 
events  of  his  administra- 
act  of  Congress,  of  a  new 
ton,  which  was  carved  out 


••# 


GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT,  WIFE  AND  SON  AT  WINTER 
QUARTERS,  CITY  POINT,  1865 


avowed  intention  of  the 
to  make  it  a  national  and 
stitution,  produced  violent 
finally,  a  most  sanguinary 
Slave  Law,  framed  by 
ginia,  had  much  to  do  with 
crisis  in  our  history, 
administration  was  draw- 
for  his  successor  were 
tional  convention  assem- 
1852,  nominated  General 
Hampshire,  for  President, 
Alabama,  for  Vice-Presi- 
convention  assembled  at 
month,  and  nominated 
President,  and  William  A. 
for  Vice-President.  The 
elected,  and  on  the  4th  of 
Fillmore  retired  to  private 
important  of  the  closing 
tion  was  the  creation,  by 
Territory  called  Washing- 
of  the  northern  part  of 


Oregon.     The   bill   for   this   purpose   became   a   law   on   the    2d   of   March,    1853. 

General  Pierce  took  the  oath  of  office  as  President  of  the  United  States,  upon  a  platform  of  New 
Hampshire  pine,  which  had  been  erected  at  the  eastern  portico  of  the  Capitol.  It  was  administered  in 
the  presence  of  thousands  of  people,  who  stood  in  a  storm  of  driving  sleet  as  witnesses  of  the  august 
ceremony.  President  Pierce  chose  for  his  cabinet  William  L.  Marcy,  Secretary  of  State;  James  Guthrie, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  Jefferson  Davis,  Secretary  of  War;  James  C.  Dobbin,  Secretary  of  the  Navy; 
Robert  McClelland,  Secretary  of  the  Interior;  James  Campbell,  Postmaster-General,  and  Caleb  Gushing, 
Attorney-General. 

An  unexpected  movement  now  aroused  a  vehement  discussion  of  the  slavery  question.  In  January, 
1854,  Senator  Stephen  A.  Douglas  presented  a  bill  in  the  Senate  for  the  erection  of  two  vast  Territories 
in  mid-continent,  to  be  called,  respectively,  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  The  bill  provided  for  giving  permis 
sion  to  the  inhabitants  of  those  Territories  to  decide  for  themselves  whether  slavery  should  or  should 
not  exist  within  their  domain.  This  proposed  nullification  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  produced 

NOTE.— EXPLANATION  FOR  COLOR  FRONTISPIECE,  GRANT  IN  THE  WILDERNESS.— The  Battle  of  the  Wilderness  began  on  the  fifth  day 
of  May.  1864.  "On  the  morning  of  the  seventh,"  writes  Grant  in  his  report,  "it  was  evident  to  my  mind  that  the  two  days'  fighting  had  satisfied  the  enemy  of 
his  inability  to  further  maintain  the  contest  in  the  open  field.  I  determined  to  push  on,  therefore,  and  put  my  whole  force  between  him  and  Richmond,  and 
orders  were  issued  for  a  movement  by  his  right  flank.  On  the  night  of  the  seventh  the  march  was  commenced."  The  artist  shows  us  the  great  commander 
riding  along  where  his  weary  soldiers  are  stretched  on  the  earth  for  rest,  after  the  day's  battle.  When  they  see  their  indomitable  commander  they  rise  and 
salute  him.  On  the  right  a  soldier,  perhaps  wounded,  sits  up  to  see  his  general  go  by.  In  the  picture  a  touch  of  characteristic  life  is  given  to  the  figure  of 
Grant  in  the  cigar  held  between  his  fingers,  and  the  realism  of  the  scene  is  heightened  by  the  trunks  and  foliage  of  the  trees  beneath  which  his  staff  is  grouped. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


rancorous  controversies  in  and  out  of  Congress,  and  the  people  of  the  free-labor  States  became  violently 
excited.  After  long  and  bitter  discussions  in  both  Houses  of  Congress,  the  bill  became  a  law  in  May 
following.  The  people  of  the  North  thought  they  perceived  in  this  measure  a  determination  to  make 
slavery  national;  and  the  boast  of  Robert  Toombs,  of  Georgia,  that  he  would  yet  "call  the  roll  of  his 
slaves  on  Bunker  Hill,"  seemed  likely  not  to  be  an  idle  one. 

In  the  light  of  historic  events,  it  is  clear  to-day,  that  men  who  afterward  appeared  as  leaders  in  the 
war  against  our  government,  were  then  concocting  and  executing  schemes  for  the  extension  of  the  domains 
of  the  slave  system.  It  must  expand  or  suffocate.  They  contrived  and  put  in  motion  expeditions  for 
conquering  neighboring  provinces,  in  the  southwest,  under  various  pretexts,  and  their  acts  were  unrebuked 
by  our  government.  They  formed  a  design  to  conquer  parts  of  Mexico,  and  also  Central  America;  and 
the  theatre  of  their  first  practically  successful  endeavors  was  on  the  northern  portion  of  the  great  isthmus 
between  North  and  South  America.  The  first  movement  was  an  armed  "emigration"  into  Nicaragua, 
with  peaceful  professions,  led  by  Colonel  H.  L.  Kinney.  This  was  followed  by  an  armed  invasion  by 

Californians  led  by  Wil 
liam  Walker,  first,  of  prov 
inces  in  Mexico,  and  then 
of  the  state  of  Nicaragua. 
Walker  also  made  peaceful 
professions  on  landing,  but 
the  next  day  he  cast  off  the 
mask  and  attempted  to 
capture  a  town.  He  was 
soon  driven  out  by  Nicara- 
guan  troops,  and  escaped 
in  a  schooner.  He  soon 
reappeared  with  a  stronger 
force  (September,  1855) 
when  the  country  was  in  a 
state  of  revolution,  and 
pushed  his  scheme  of  con 
quest  so  vigorously  that  he 
seized  the  capital  of  the 
state  (Grenada),  in  Octo 
ber,  and  placed  one  of  his 
followers  (a  Nicaraguan) 
in  the  presidential  chair. 
He  also  strengthened  his 
power  by  armed  "emi 
grants"  who  came  from 
the  slave-labor  States. 
The  other  governments  on 

the  isthmus  were  alarmed  for  their  own  safety,  and  in  the  winter  of  1856  they  formed  an  alliance  for 
expelling  the  invaders.  Troops  from  Costa  Rica  marched  into  Nicaragua,  but  were  soon  driven  out  by 
Walker's  forces.  So  firm  was  his  grasp  that  he  caused  himself  to  be  elected  President  of  Nicaragua;  and 
the  government  at  Washington  hastened  to  acknowledge  the  new  "nation,"  by  cordially  receiving  Walker's 
embassador  in  the  person  of  a  Roman  Catholic  priest  named  Vigil.  For  two  years  this  usurper  ruled 
that  state  with  a  high  hand,  and  offended  commercial  nations  by  his  interference  with  trade.  At  length 
the  combined  powers  on  the  isthmus  crushed  him.  In  May,  1857,  he  was  compelled  to  surrender  the 
remnant  of  his  army,  but  escaped  himself  through  the  interposition  of  Commodore  Davis  of  our  navy. 
Late  in  the  same  year  he  reappeared  in  Central  America,  when  he  was  seized,  with  his  followers,  by 
Commodore  Paulding,  and  sent  to  New  York  as  an  offender  against  neutrality  laws.  The  President 
(Buchanan)  privately  commended  Paulding  for  his  action,  but  for  "prudential  reasons,"  as  he  said,  he 
publicly  condemned  the  commander  in  a  message  to  Congress,  for  "thus  violating  the  sovereignty  of  a 
foreign  country."  Walker  was  allowed  to  go  free,  when  he  fitted  out  another  expedition  and  sailed  from 
Mobile.  He  was  arrested  only  for  leaving  port  without  a  clearance,  and  was  tried  and  acquitted  by  the 
supreme  court  at  New  Orleans.  Then  he  went  again  to  Nicaragua,  where  he  made  much  mischief,  and 
was  finally  captured  and  shot  at  Truxillo. 


HOME  OF  JEFFERSON  DAVIS  AT  MONTGOMERY,  ALA. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


Our  country  was  approaching  that  great  crisis  which  appeared  in  the  dreadful  aspect  of  civil  war — 
a  tremendous  conflict  between  Freedom  and  Slavery  for  supremacy  in  the  republic.  With  the  enactment 
and  enforcement  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law  and  the  virtual  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  Act,  in 

the  case  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  the  important  question 
was  forced  upon  the  attention  of  the  whole  people  of  the 
land,  ' '  Shall  the  domain  of  our  republic  be  the  theatre  of 
all  free  or  all  slave  labor,  with  the  corresponding  civiliza 
tion  of  each  as  a  consequence?"  The  time  had  come 
when  one  or  the  other  of  these  social  systems  must  prevail 
in  all  parts  of  the  land.  Part  free  and  part  slave  was  a 
condition  no  longer  to  be  tolerated,  for  it  meant  perpetual 
war.  The  supporters  of  the  slave-system,  encouraged 
by  their  recent  triumphs,  had  full  faith  in  their  ability 
to  win  other  and  more  decisive  victories,  and  did  not 
permit  themselves  to  doubt  their  ultimate  possession  of 
the  field,  so  they  sounded  the  trumpet  for  their  hosts  to 
rally  and  prepare  for  the  struggle.  Kansas  was  the 
chosen  field  for  the  preliminary  skirmishing.  It  lay 
nearest  to  the  settled  States;  it  was  bordered  on  the  east 
by  a  slave-labor  State,  and  it  was  easy  of  access  from  the 
South.  On  the  surface  of  society  they  saw  only  insigni 
ficant  ripples  of  opposition.  They  began  to  colonize  the 
Territory;  and,  flushed  with  what  seemed  to  be  well- 
assured  success,  they  cast  down  the  gauntlet  of  defiance 
at  the  feet  of  the  friends  of  free-labor  in  the  nation. 

That  gauntlet  was  quickly  taken  up  by  their  opponents,  and  champions  of  freedom  seemed  to  spring 
from  the  ground  like  the  harvest  from  the  seed-sowing  of  dragons'  teeth.  Enterprising  men  and  women 
swarmed  out  of  New  England  to  people  the  virgin  soil  of  Kansas  with  the  hardy  children  of  toil.  They 
were  joined  by  those  of  other  free-labor  States  in  the  North  and  West.  The  then  dominant  party  in 
the  Union  were  astonished  at  the  sudden  uprising,  and  clearly  perceived  that  the  opponents  of  slavery 
would  speedily  outvote  its  supporters.  Combinations  were  formed  under  various  names,  such  as  ' '  Blue 
Lodges,"  "Friends'  Society,"  "Social  Band,"  "Sons  of  the  South,"  etc.,  to  counteract  the  efforts  of  the 
"Emigrant  Aid  Society"  of  Massachusetts,  to  gain  numerical  supremacy  in  Kansas — a  society  which 
had  been  organized  immediately  after  the  passage  of  the  Kansas- Nebraska  bill.  The  supporters  of 
slavery,  conscious  that  their  votes  could  not  secure  supremacy  in  Kansas,  where  the  question  of  slavery 
or  no  slavery  was  to  be  decided  at  the  ballot-box,  organized  physical  force  in  Missouri  to  oppose  this 
moral  force.  Associations  were  formed  in  Missouri,  whose  members  were  pledged  to  be  ready,  at  all 
times,  to  assist,  when  called  upon  by  the  friends  of  slavery  in  Kansas,  in  removing  from  that  Territory 


PONTOON  BOATS  ON  WHEELS 


CAMP  OF  THE  5OTH  NEW  YORK  ENGINEERS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


11 


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GENERAL  WINFIELD  SCOTT 
Showing  the  Present  Condition  of  the  Broken  Negative  in  Possession  of  the  War  Department. 


12 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


, 


by  force  every  person  who  should  attempt  to  settle  there  "under  the  auspices  of  the  Northern  Emigrant 

Aid  Society." 

In  the  autumn  of  1854,  A.  H.  Reeder  was  sent  to  govern  the  Territory  of  Kansas.     He  immediately 

ordered  an  election  of  a  Territorial  legislature,  and  with  that  election 
the  struggle  for  supremacy  there  was  finally  begun.  Missourians 
went  into  Kansas  to  assist  the  supporters  of  slavery  there  in  carrying 
the  election.  They  went  with  tents,  artillery  and  other  weapons. 
There  were  then  eight  hundred  and  thirty-one  legal  voters  in  the 
Territory,  but  there  were  more  than  six  thousand  votes  polled.  The 
members  of  the  Legislature  were  all  supporters  of  slavery;  and  when 
they  met  at  Shawnee,  on  the  borders  of  Missouri,  they  proceeded  to 
enact  laws  for  upholding  slavery  in  Kansas.  These  laws  were  regu 
larly  vetoed  by  Governor  Reeder,  who  became  so  obnoxious  that 
President  Pierce  was  asked  to  recall  him.  The  President  did  so, 
and  sent  Wilson  Shannon  of  Ohio,  who  was  an  avowed  supporter  of 
slavery,  to  fill  Reeder's  place. 

The  actual  settlers  in  Kansas,  who  were  chiefly  from  the  free- 
labor  States,  met  in  mass  convention  in  September,  1855,  and 
resolved  not  to  recognize  the  laws  passed  by  the  illegally  elected 
legislature,  as  binding  upon  them.  They  called  a  delegate  conven- 

ttion  to  assemble  at  Topeka  on  the  igth  of  October,  at  which  time 
and  place  the  convention  framed  a  State  constitution  which  was 
approved  by  the  legal  voters  of  the  Territory,  and  which  contained 
an  article  making  provision  for  constituting  Kansas  a  free-labor 
State.  Under  this  constitution  they  asked  Congress  to  admit  that 
Territory  into  the  Union  as  a  State.  By  this  action  the  contest 
between  Freedom  and  Slavery  was  transferred  from  Kansas  to 
Washington,  for  awhile.  The  prospect  of  success  for  the  opponents 
of  slavery,  in  Kansas,  was  beginning  to  appear  bright,  when  Presi 
dent  Pierce  gave  the  supporters  of  the  institution  much  comfort  by 

a  message  to  Congress  in  January,  1856,  in  which  he  declared  the  action  of  the  legal  voters,  in  adopting 

a  State  constitution,  to  be  open  rebellion. 

Throughout  the  spring  and  summer  of  1856,  armed  men  from  other  States  roamed  over  Kansas, 

committing  many  excesses  under  pretext  of  compelling  obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  illegal  legislature. 

There  was  much  violence  and  bloodshed;    but   during 

the  autumn,  the  Presidential  election  absorbed  so  much 

of  the   public   attention,   that    Kansas   was  allowed  a 

season   of  rest.      At   that   election    there    were    three 

parties  in  the  field,  each  of  which  had  a  candidate  for  the 

Presidency.     One  was  a  party  composed  of  men  of  all 

political  creeds,  who  were  opposed  to  slavery.     It  was 

called  the  Republican  party,  and  it  assumed  powerful 

proportions  at  the  outset.     Another  powerful  political 

organization   was   known   as   the   American   or   Know- 

Nothing  party,  whose  chief  bond  of  union  was  opposition 

to  foreign  influence.     The  Democratic  party,  dating  its 

organization  at  'the  period  of  the  election  of  President 

Jackson  in  1828,  was  then  the  dominant  party  in  the 

Union.      The  Democratic  candidate  for  the  Presidency 

was  James  Buchanan  of  Pennsylvania;  of  the  Repub 
lican    party,    John   C.    Fremont   of    California,   and  of 

the  American  party,  Ex-President   Fillmore.     After  an 

exciting  canvass,  James  Buchanan  was  elected  Presi 
dent,  with  John  C.  Breckenridge  of  Kentucky  as  Vice- 

President. 


REAR  ADMIRAL  H.  PAULDING 


MILITARY  RAIL  ROAD  GUN 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHAPTER   II. 

A  New  Era — Skirmishes  before  the  Civil  War — The  Democratic  Party — The  Dred  Scott  Decision — Action  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States — Early  Efforts  to  Restrict  Slavery — Slaves  in  England — The  Status  of  Slavery  Here — President  Buchanan's  Course 
Foreshadowed — Civil  War  in  Kansas  and  Civil  Government  There — Lecompton  Constitution  Adopted  and  Rejected — Admission 
of  Kansas  as  a  State — A  Judicial  Decision  Practically  Reversed — Reopening  of  the  African  Slave-Trade  and  Action  Concerning  It — - 
Working  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law — Action  of  State  Legislatures. 

WHEN  James  Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  inaugurated  the  fifteenth  President  of  the  United 
States  on  the  4th  of  March,  1857,  and  chose,  for  his  constitutional  advisers,  Lewis  Cass,  Secretary 
of  State;  Howell  Cobb,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  John  B.  Floyd,  Secretary  of  War;  Isaac  Toucey, 
Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  Jacob  Thompson,  Secretary 
of  the  Interior;  Aaron  V.  Brown,  Postmaster-Gen 
eral,  and  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  Attorney-General,  a 
new  era  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  was  be 
gun.  It  was  the  beginning  of  a  great  political  and 
social  revolution  in  our  republic  which  entirely  and 
permanently  changed  the  industrial  aspects  in 
many  of  the  States  of  the  Union. 

It  was  during  the  administration  of  Mr.  Bu 
chanan  that  the  preliminary  skirmishes,  moral  and 
physical,  which  immediately  preceded  the  great 
Civil  War,  occurred.  Both  parties  were  then  put 
ting  on  their  armor  and  preparing  their  weapons  for 
the  mighty  struggle.  The  political  organization  by 
which  the  new  President  had  been  elected  had,  for 
some  time,  coalesced  with  the  friends  and  support 
ers  of  the  slave-labor  system  in  their  efforts  not  only 
to  extend  the  public  domain  so  as  to  allow  the  al 
most  indefinite  expansion  of  their  cherished  insti 
tution,  but  to  make  it  national.  That  coalition  and 
sympathy  were  manifested  in  various  ways.  The 
two  wings  of  the  Democratic  party  (one  of  them  leaning  toward  an  anti-slavery  policy  and  called  the 
"  Free-Soil  Democracy  ")  had  been  reconciled,  and  worked  together  in  the  national  convention  at  Cincin 
nati  in  June,  1856,  which  nominated  Mr.  Buchanan  for  the  Presidency.  In  their  resolutions,  put  forth  as 
a  platform  of  principles,  they  approved  the  invasion  and  usurpation  of  Walker,  in  Nicaragua,  as  efforts 
of  the  people  of  Central  America  "to  regenerate  that  portion  of  the  continent  which  covers  the  pass 
age  across  the  interoceanic  isthmus."  They  approved  the  doctrine  of  the  "Ostend  Manifesto,"  by  re 
solving  that  "the  Democratic  party  were  in  favor  of  the  acquisition  of  Cuba,"  and  Mr.  Buchanan  was 

i — ,    chosen  to  be  their  standard-bearer  because  of  his  known 

sympathy  with  these  movements  for  the  extension  of  the 
area  and  perpetuation  of  the  slave  system.  Senator  A.  G. 
Brown  of  Mississippi,  one  of  the  committee  appointed  to 
call  upon  Mr.  Buchanan  and  officially  inform  him  of  his 
nomination,  wrote  to  a  friend,  saying:  "In  my  judgment 
Mr.  Buchanan  is  as  worthy  of  Southern  confidence  and 
Southern  votes  as  ever  Mr.  Calhounwas." 

One  of  the  most  vitally  important  skirmishes  before 
the  Civil  War  actually  began  occurred  at  about  the  time  of 
Mr.  Buchanan's  accession  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Repub 
lic.  It  was  of  a  moral  and  not  of  a  physical  nature,  and  is 
known  in  our  judicial  history  as  "the  Dred  Scott  case." 

Drcd  Scott  was  a  young  negro  slave  of  Dr.  Emerson,  a 
surgeon  in  the  United  States  Army,  living  in  Missouri. 
When  the  latter  was  ordered  to  Rock  Island,  in  Illinois,  in 
1834,  he  took  Scott  with  him.  There  Major  Taliaferro,  of 
the  army,  had  a  feminine  slave,  and  when  the  two  masters 
were  transferred  to  Fort  Snelling  (now  in  Minnesota)  next 
year,  the  two  slaves  were  married  with  the  consent  of  the 


CAMP  WORK 


FIELD  TELEGRAPH  STATION 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


15 


LANDING  SUPPLIES  AT  CITY  POINT 


COMPANY  OF  170111  NEW  YORK  VOLUNTEERS 


Ifi 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


OPEN  PONTOON  BRIDGE 


masters.  They  had  two  children  born  in  the  free-labor  Territory;  and  the  mother  had  been  bought  by  Dr. 
Emerson,  who  finally  took  parents  and  children  back  to  Missouri,  and  there  sold  them  to  a  New  Yorker. 
Dred  sued  for  his  freedom,  on  the  plea  of  his  involuntary  residence  in  a  free-labor  State  and  Territory  for 

several  years,  and  the  Circuit  Court  of  St.  Louis  decided  in 
his  favor.  The  Supreme  Court  of  Missouri  reversed  the  de 
cision  of  the  inferior  court,  and  it  was  carried,  by  an  appeal, 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  then  presided 
over  by  Roger  B.  Taney,  a  Maryland  slaveholder.  A  ma 
jority  of  that  court  were  in  sympathy  with  the  friends  of 
the  slave-labor  system,  and  their  decision,  about  to  be  given 
in  1856,  was,  for  prudential  reasons,  withheld  until  after 
the  Presidential  election  that  year.  When  it  was  known 
that  Buchanan  was  elected,  the  decision  was  made  against 
Scott,  but  it  was  not  promulgated  until  after  the  inaugu 
ration  of  the  new  President  of  the  Republic.  The  decision, 
through  the  Chief  Justice,  declared  that  any  person ' '  whose 
ancestors  were  imported  into  this  country  and  held  as 
slaves"  had  no  right  to  sue  in  any  court  of  the  United 
States ;  in  other  words,  denying  any  right  of  citizenship  to  a 
person  who  had  been  a  slave  or  was  the  descendant  of  a  slave. 
The  only  legitimate  business  of  the  court  was  to  decide 
the  question  of  j  urisdiction  in  the  case ;  but  the  Chief  Justice, 
with  the  sanction  of  amajority  of  the  court,  further  declared 
that  the  framers  and  supporters  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  did  not  include  the  negro  race  in  our 
country  in  the  great  proclamation  that  "all  men  are  created  equal; "  that  the  patriots  of  the  Revolution, 
and  their  progenitors  "for  more  than  a  century  before,"  regarded  the  negroes  as  beings  of  an  inferior  order, 
and  altogether  unfit  to  associate  with  the  white  race  either  in  social  or  political  relations ;  and  so  far  inferior 
that  they  had  no  rights  which  the  white  man  was  bound  to  respect,  and  that  the  negro  might  lawfully  be  reduced 
to  slaveryfor  his  (the  white  man's)  benefit.  TheChief  Justice  further  declared  that  they  were  never  spoken  of 
except  as  property ;  and  that  in  the  days  of  our  fathers,  even  emancipated  blacks ' '  were  identified  in  the  public 
mind  with  the  race  to  which  they  belonged,  and  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  slave  population  rather  than  the  free." 
How  much  at  variance  with  the  plain  teachings  of  history  were  these  statements,  let  our  public  records 
testify.  In  the  English-American  colonies,  the  most  enlightened  men  looked  on  slavery  with  great  disfavor, 
as  a  moral  wrong,  and  they  made  attempts,  from  time  to  time,  to  limit  or  eradicate  it.  The  utterances  and 
writings  of  men  like  General  Washington,  Henry  Laurens,  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  other  slaveholders,  and  of  Dr. 
Franklin,  John  Jay  and  many  leading  patriots  of  the  Revolution,  directly  refute  the  assertion  of  Judge  Taney, 
that  in  their  time  Africans  by  descent  were ' '  never  thought  or  spoken  of  except  as  property. ' '  The  Declaration 
of  Independence,  framed  by  a  slaveholder,  was  a  solemn  protest  against  human  bondage  in  every  form ;  and  in 
his  original  draft  of  that  document,  Mr.  Jefferson  made  the  protest  stronger  than  the  Congress  finally  approved. 
Among  the  public  acts  of  the  fathers  of  the  Republic  in  favor  of  human  freedom  and  restriction  of  the 
slave-system,  was  the  famous  Ordinance  of  1 7  87 ,  adopted  before  the  National  Constitution  was  framed,  which 
was  the  final  result  of  an  effort  commenced  in  the  Continental  Congress  in  1 7  84  to  restrict  slavery.  That  effort 
was  made  in  proposing  a  plan  for  the  government  of  a  Territory  including  the  whole  region  west  of  the  old 
thirteen  States,  as  far  south  as  the  thirty-first  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  embracing  several  of  the  late 
slave-labor  States.  The  plan  was  submitted  by  a  committee,  of  which  Thomas  Jefferson  was  chairman.  It 
contemplated  the  ultimate  division  of  that  Territory  into  seventeen  States,  eight  of  them  below  the  latitude 
of  the  present  city  of  Louisville,  in  Kentucky.  Among  the  rules  for  the  government  of  that  region,  reported  by 
Mr.  Jefferson,  was  the  following :  "That  after  the  year  1 800  of  the  Christian  Era,  there  shall  be  neither  slavery 
nor  involuntary  servitude  in  any  of  the  said  States,  otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crime,  whereof  the 
party  shall  have  been  convicted  to  be  personally  guilty. ' '  On  motion  of  Carolinians,  this  clause  was  stricken  out. 
A  majority  of  the  States  were  in  favor  of  it,  but  as  it  required  the  votes  of  nine  States  to  carry  a  proposition,  it 
.  was  not  adopted.  This  rule,  omitting  the  words ' '  after  the  year  1 800  of  the  Christian  Era, ' '  was  incorporated  in 
the  Ordinance  of  1 7  8  7 ,  above  alluded  to,  and  so  secured  freedom  to  the  territory  northward  of  the  Ohio  River. 
The  mother-country,  from  which  a  larger  portion  of  the  patriots  of  our  Revolution  had  sprung,  had 
just  swept  slavery  from  the  dominions  of  Great  Britain,  when  the  old  war  for  independence  was  a-kindling. 
It  was  done  by  a  decision  of  Chief  Justice  Mansfield  in  the  case  of  James  Somerset,  a  native  of  Africa, 
who  was  first  carried  to  Virginia  and  sold  as  a  slave,  then  taken  to  England  by  his  master,  and  there  induced, 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


BUILDING  PONTOON  BRIDGE,  NEAR  BEAUFORT,  S.  C. 


by  philanthropic  men,  to  assert  his  freedom.  Chief  Justice  Mansfield  decided  that  he  was  a  free  man. 
So  early  as  1597,  it  was  held  by  the  lawyers  in  England,  that  "negroes  being  usually  bought  and  sold 
among  merchants  as  merchandise,  and  also  being  infidels,  there  might  be  a  property  in  them  sufficient 

to  maintain  trover,"  or  the  gaining  possession  of  any 
goods  by  whatever  means.  This  position  was  overruled 
by  Chief  Justice  Holt,  who  decided  that  "so  soon  as  a 
negro  lands  in  England,  he  is  free."  It  was  to  this 
decision  that  Cowper  alluded  in  his  lines : 

"Slaves  cannot  breathe  in  England; 
That  moment  they  are  free  they  touch  our  country, 
And  their  shackles  fall." 

In  1702,  Justice  Holt  also  decided  that  "there  is  no 
such  thing  as  a  slave  by  the  laws  of  England;"  but  in 
1729,  an  opinion  was  obtained  from  the  crown-lawyer, 
that  negroes  legally  enslaved  elsewhere  might  be  held  as 
slaves  in  England,  and  that  baptism  was  no  bar  to  the 
master's  claim.  This  was  a  sort  of  fugitive  slave-law 
for  the  benefit  of  the  English-American  colonists,  that 
was  obeyed  until  the  sweeping  decision  of  Chief  Justice 
Mansfield,  which  would  have  abolished  slavery  here  had 
not  the  Revolution  broken  out  soon  afterward. 

After  Chief  Justice  Taney  had  made  his  declaration 
about  the  feelings  of  our  forefathers  concerning  the  negro 
as  a  man,  he  declared  that  the  Missouri  Compromise  Act 
and  all  other  acts  for  the  restriction  of  slavery  were 
unconstitutional;  and  that  neither  Congress  nor  local 
legislatures  had  any  authority  for  restricting  the  spread 

of  the  institution  all  over  the  Union.     The  majority  of  the  Supreme  Court  sustained  not  only  the  legitimate 

decision,  but  the  extra-judicial  opinion  of  the  Chief  Justice;  and  the  dominant  party  who  had  elected 

Mr.  Buchanan  assumed  that  the  decision  was  final — that  slavery  was  a  national  institution  having  the 

right  to  exist  anywhere  in  the  Union,  and  that  Mr.  Toombs  might  legally  "call  the  roll  of  his  slaves  on 

Bunker's  Hill."     It  was  assumed  by  the  leaders  of  that  party  that,  in  consequence  of  the  promulgated 

opinion  of  five  or  six  fallible  men,  evidently  based  upon  a  perversion  of  historical  facts,  the  nation  was 

bound  to  consent  to  the  turning  back  of  the  bright  tide  of  Christian  civilization  into  the  darker  channels 

of  a  barbarous  age  from  which  it  had  escaped.     To  this  proposition  the  conscience  of  the  nation  refused 

acquiescence.     Large  numbers  of  the  dominant  party  deserted  their  leaders,  and  every  lover  of  freedom 

was  impelled  to  prepare  for  the  inevitable  conflict  which  this  extra-judicial  opinion  of  the  highest  court 

in  the  land  would  certainly  arouse.     It  being 

extra-judicial,  it  was  no  more  binding,  in  law, 

upon  the  people,  than  was  the  opinion  of  any 

citizen  of  the  Republic. 

The  new  President  had  been  informed  of 

this  decision  before  it  was  promulgated,  and  in  his 

inaugural  address  he  foreshadowed  his  own  course 

in  the  treatment  of  the  subject.     Indeed,  that 

decision  was  a  chief  topic  of  the  discourse.     He 

spoke  of  the  measure  as  one  that  would  ' '  speedily 

and  finally"  settle  the  slavery  question,  and  he 

announced  his  intention  to  cheerfully  submit  to 

it,    declaring   that   the   question   was   wholly   a 

judicial  one,  which  only  the  Supreme  Court  of 

the  Republic  could  settle,  and  that  by  its  decision 

the   admission   or  rejection   of   slavery  in   any 

Territory  was  to  be  determined  by  the  legal  votes 

of  the  people  thereof.     "The  whole  territorial 

question,"  he  said,  "was  thus  settled  upon  the 

principle  of  popular  sovereignty — a  principle  as 


HORSES  KILLED  BY  BURSTING  SHELLS 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


19 


GROUP  OF  UNITED  STATES  ARTILLERY 


CONFEDERATE  PRISONERS  AT  BELLE  PLAIN 


20 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


ancient  as  free  government  itself."  He  averred  that  "everything  of  a  practical  nature  "  had  been  settled, 
and  he  expressed  a  sincere  hope  that  the  long  agitation  of  the  subject  of  slavery  was  "approaching  its  end." 

Alas !  it  was  only  the  beginning  of  the  dreadful  scenes  that  marked  its  end.  That  decision  and  opinion 
of  the  Chief  Justice  rekindled  the  fire  spoken  of  by  the  Georgian  in  debate  in  Congress  on  the  admission 
of  Missouri,  which  he  said,  "all  the  waters  of  the  ocean  would  not  put  out,  and  which  only  seas  of  blood 
could  extinguish." 

As  we  have  observed,  there  was  actual  civil  war  in  Kansas  in  the  earlier  portions  of  1856.  It  assumed 
alarming  aspects  during  the  spring  and  summer  of  that  year,  as  we  have  noticed.  The  actual  settlers 
from  free-labor  States  outnumbered  emigrants  from  elsewhere;  and  a  regiment  of  young  men  from  Georgia 
and  South  Carolina,  under  Colonel  Buford,  fully  armed,  went  into  the  Territory  for  the  avowed  purpose 
of  making  it  a  slave-labor  State  ' '  at  all  hazards. ' '  They  were  joined  by  armed  Missourians,  and  for  several 


*•«  "•{.  ' 

'--      *•'•'•' 


FIELD  HOSPITAL  IST  DIVISION  20  CORPS 

months  they  spread  terror  over  the  land.  They  sacked  the  town  of  Lawrence,  and  murdered  and  plundered 
individuals  in  various  places.  Steamboats  ascending  the  Missouri  River  with  emigrants  from  free-labor 
States  were  stopped,  and  the  passengers  were  frequently  robbed  of  their  money;  and  persons  of  the  same 
class,  crossing  the  State  of  Missouri,  were  arrested  and  turned  back.  Lawlessness  reigned  supreme  in  all 
that  region.  Justice  was  bound,  and  there  was  general  defiance  of  all  mandates  of  right. 

The  civil  war  in  Kansas,  so  begun,  was  more  wasteful  than  bloody,  and  there  was  only  one  battle  with 
any  semblance  of  regularity  fought  there.  That  conflict  took  place  on  an  open  prairie.  It  was  waged 
between  twenty-eight  emigrants,  led  by  John  Brown,  of  Ossawattamie,  and  fifty-six  armed  men  under 
H.  Clay  Pate,  of  Virginia.  Brown  was  the  victor.  Finally,  John  W.  Geary,  afterward  a  major-general, 
and  Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  who  succeeded  Shannon  as  chief  magistrate  of  Kansas,  by  judicious  admin 
istration  of  affairs  there,  smothered  the  flames  of  civil  war,  and  both  parties  worked  vigorously  with  moral 
forces  for  the  admission  of  Kansas  as  a  State  of  the  Union,  but  with  ends  in  view  diametrically 
opposed. 

In  September,  1857,  the  friends  of  the  slave-system  met  in  convention  at  Lecompton,  on  the  Kansas 
River,  and  then  the  Territorial  capital,  and  adopted  a  State  Constitution,  in  which  it  was  declared  that 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


SIGNAL  STATION  ON  ELK  MOUNTAIN 


"the  rights  of  property  in  slaves  now  in  the  Territory  shall  in  no  manner  be  interfered  with,"  and  it 
forbade  any  amendment  of  the  instrument  until  1864.  It  was  submitted  to  the  votes  of  the  people  in 
December  following,  but  by  the  terms  of  the  election  law  then  in  force,  no  person  could  vote  against  the 

Constitution.  The  ballots  were 
endorsed:  "For  the  Constitution 
with  slavery"  and  "For  the  Con 
stitution  without  slavery."  In 
either  case,  a  constitution  that 
would  foster  and  protect  slavery 
would  be  voted  for.  The  conse 
quence  was  that  a  large  portion  of 
the  friends  of  the  free-labor  system 
refused  to  vote,  and  the  Lecomp- 
ton  Constitution  was  adopted  by 
a  very  large  majority. 

R.  J.  Walker,  of  Mississippi,  had 
now  succeeded  Governor  Geary, 
and  when  an  election  for  a  new 
Territorial  Legislature  occurred, 
he  assured  the  people  that  justice 
should  prevail.  Encouraged  by 
these  assurances  of  an  honest  man, 
the  friends  of  free-labor  generally 
voted,  and  the  law-makers  then 
elected  were  composed  chiefly  of 
their  political  friends.  They  also  elected  their  candidate  for  Congress.  That  Legislature  'ordered  the 
Lecompton  Constitution  to  be  submitted  to  the  people  of  Kansas  for  their  adoption  or  rejection,  and  it 
was  rejected  by  at  least  ten  thousand  majority.  The  President  of  the  Republic,  regardless  of  this  expressed 
will  of  the  people  of  Kansas,  sent  the  rejected  Constitution  into  Congress,  with  a  message  recommending  its 
ratification.  "It  has  been  solemnly  adjudged  by  the  highest  tribunal  known  to  our  laws,"  said  President 
Buchanan,  "that  slavery  exists  in  Kansas  by  virtue  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Kansas  is, 
therefore,  at  this  moment  as  much  a  slave  State  as  Georgia  or  South  Carolina."  Congress  did  not  ratify 
it,  but  ordered  it  to  be  again  submitted  to  the  people  of  Kansas,  when  they  rejected  it  by  an  overwhelming 
majority.  From  that  hour  the  controlling  political  power  in  Kansas  was  wielded  by  the  free-labor  party. 
Their  strength  steadily  increased,  and 
at  near  the  close  of  January,  1861,  just 
as  the  great  Civil  War  was  a-kindling, 
that  Territory  was  admitted  into  the 
Union  as  a  free-labor  State.  The 
Republic  was  now  composed  of  thirty- 
four  States  and  several  Territories. 
Six  years  after  the  decision  of  Judge 
Taney  and  the  majority  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  which  declared  that  it  was  im 
possible  for  a  black  man  to  become  a 
citizen,  that  decision  was  practically  set 
aside  by  the  issuing  of  a  passport  by 
the  Secretary  of  State,  William  H. 
Seward,  to  the  descendant  of  a  slave 
to  travel  abroad  as  a  "citizen  of  the 
United  States." 

While  the  struggle  for  freedom  was 
going  on  in  Kansas,  the  friends  of 
the  slave-labor  system,  emboldened  by 
the  sympathy  of  the  general  govern 
ment,  formed  plans  for  its  perpetuity. 
These  plans  would  practically  disregard  A  CAMP  SCENE 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


23 


i 
I 


24 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


ARRIVAL  OF  NEGSO  FUGITIVES  WITHIM  THE  LINES 


the  plain  requirements  of  the  National  Constitution  and  the  laws  made  under  it.  They  resolved  to  reopen 
the  African  slave-trade,  which  had  been  closed  in  1808  by  a  provision  of  the  Constitution.  Leading 
citizens  of  Louisiana  prepared  to  engage  in  it,  under  the  guise  of  the  "African  Labor-Supply  Association," 

and  captives,  as  of  old,  were  actually  brought 
across  the  sea,  landed  on  the  shores  of  the  South 
ern  States,  and  sold  into  perpetual  bondage. 
Newspapers  in  the  slave-labor  States  openly 
defended  the  measure,  and  the  pulpit  uttered  its 
approval. 

The  President  of  the  Presbyterian  Theo 
logical  Seminary  at  Columbia,  South  Carolina, 
Dr.  James  H.  Thornwell,  who  died  at  the  begin 
ning  of  the  Civil  War,  declared  that  it  was  his 
conviction  that  ' '  the  African  slave-trade  was  the 
most  worthy  of  all  missionary  societies."  The 
"Southern  Commercial  Convention,"  held  at 
Vicksburg  in  May,  1859,  resolved  that  "all  laws, 
State  or  Federal,  prohibiting  the  African  slave- 
trade,  ought  to  be  abolished."  A  grand  jury  in 
Savannah,  who  were  compelled  by  law  to  indict 
several  persons  charged  with  complicity  in  the 
slave-trade,  actually  protested  against  the  laws 
they  were  sworn  to  support,  saying:  "We  feel 
humbled  as  men  in  the  consciousness  that  we  are  freemen  but  in  name,  and  that  we  are  living,  during  the 
existence  of  such  laws,  under  a  tyranny  as  supreme  as  that  of  the  despotic  governments  of  the  Old  World. 
Heretofore  the  people  of  the  South,  firm  in  their  consciousness  of  right  and  strength,  have  failed  to  place 
the  stamp  of  condemnation  upon  such  laws  as  reflect  upon  the  institution  of  slavery,  but  have  permitted, 
unrebuked,  the  influence  of  foreign  opinion  to  prevail  in  their  support."  A  Mississippi  newspaper,  the 
True  Southron,  in  its  earnestness  for  the  cause,  suggested  the  "propriety  of  stimulating  the  zeal  of  the  pulpit 
by  founding  a  prize  for  the  best  sermon  in  favor  of  free-trade  in  negroes,"  and  the  proposition  was  widely 
copied,  with  approval;  while  in  many  pulpits  "zeal"  was  exhibited  in  the  service  of  the  slaveholders 
without  the  stimulus  of  an  offered  prize.  And  in  the  United  States  Senate,  John  Slidell,  of  Louisiana, 
one  of  the  most  effective  civil  leaders  among  the  late  Confederates,  urged  the  propriety  of  withdrawing 
American  cruisers  from  the  coast  of  Africa,  that  the  slave-traders  there  might  not  be  molested ;  and  Presi 
dent  Buchanan's  administration,  inspired  by  men  like  Slidell,  was  made  to  serve  the  plans  of  the  supporters 
of  the  slave-labor  system,  by  protesting  against  the  visitation,  by  British  cruisers,  of  vessels  bearing  the 
American  flag,  on  suspicion  that  they  were  "slavers."  These  visitations  were  made  in  accordance  with 
a  positive  agreement  between  the  two  governments,  that  under  such  circumstances,  visits  should  be  made 
freely  by  either  party. 

This  arrangement  had  been  made  for  the  purpose  of  more  effectually  suppressing  the  slave-trade 
then  about  to  be  opened  by  the  "African  Labor-Supply  Association;"  and  in  the  summer  of  1858,  the 
British  cruisers  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  were  unusually  vigilant.  In  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  they  boarded 
about  forty  suspected  American  vessels.  It  was  this  activity,  which  promised  to  be  an  effectual  bar  to 
the  reviving  trade  in  slaves,  that  gave  a  pretext  for  the  President  to  enter  his  protest.  There  was  a  cry 
raised  against  the  "odious  British  doctrine  of  the  right  of  search,"  and  the  British  government,  for  "pru 
dential  reasons,"  put  a  stop  to  it.  In  this  case  it  was  only  "the  end  "  that  "justified  the  means." 

The  Fugitive-Slave  Law  now  began  to  bear  bitter  fruit,  and  it  soon  became  one  of  the  most  prolific 
causes  of  the  continually  increasing  controversies  between  the  upholders  and  opposers  of  the  slave-labor 
system.  It  was  made  more  offensive  by  the  evident  intention  of  the  friends  of  the  institution 
everywhere  to  nationalize  slavery ;  and  the  perversion  of  the  obvious  meaning  of  the  vital  doctrine  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  by  the  judicial  branch  of  the  government,  while  the  executive  branch  was 
ready  to  lend  his  tremendous  power  in  giving  practical  effect  to  the  system,  awakened  in  the  breasts  of 
the  people  of  the  free-labor  States  a  burning  desire  to  wipe  the  stain  of  human  bondage  from  the  escutcheon 
of  the  Republic.  Seizures  under  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law  were  becoming  more  and  more  frequent,  with 
circumstances  of  increasing  injustice  and  cruelty.  The  business  of  arresting,  and  remanding  to  hopeless 
slavery,  men,  women  and  children,  was  carried  on  all  over  the  free-labor  States,  and  the  people  stood 
appalled.  By  that  dreadful  law,  every  man  was  compelled  to  become  a  slave-hunter,  under  certain 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


25 


WASHINGTON  IN  THE  SIXTIES.    ORDNANCE  YARD  AT  CITY  POINT 


26 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


conditions ;  and  every  kind-hearted  woman  who  might  give  a  cup  of  cold  water  or  the  shelter  of  a  roof  to 
a  suffering  sister  fleeing  from  intolerable  bondage,  incurred  the  penalty  of  a  felony ! 

This  law  became  a  broad  cover  under  which  the  kidnapping  of  free  persons  of  color  was  extensively 
carried  on;  and  scores  of  men,  women  and  children,  born  free,  were  dragged  from  their  homes  and  consigned 
to  hopeless  bondage.  Our  public  legal  records  are  stained  with  the  revolting  details  of  the  workings  of 
the  law;  and  the  newspapers  of  the  day  contained  accounts  of  many  stirring  events  connected  with  the 
execution  of  it.  The  following  facts  will  suffice  as  an  illustration: 

On  a  cold  day  in  January,  1856,  two  slaves,  with  their  wives  and  four  children,  all  thinly  clad,  escaped 
from  Kentucky  into  Ohio.  They  crossed  the  frozen  river  to  Cincinnati,  closely  pursued  by  the  master 
of  three  of  them,  on  horseback.  In  Cincinnati,  they  were  harbored  by  a  colored  man.  Their  retreat 
was  discovered  by  the  pursuing  master,  who  repaired  to  the  house  with  the  United  States  marshal  and  his 
assistants,  and  demanded  their  surrender.  They  refused;  and  after  a  desperate  struggle,  the  door  was 


CAMP  OF  II4TH  PENNSYLVANIA  VOLUNTEERS  AT  BRANDY  STATION,  VA. 

broken  open  and  the  fugitives  were  secured.  They  had  resolved  to  die  rather  than  be  taken  back  into 
slavery.  The  mother  of  the  three  children,  in  despair,  tried,  first  to  kill  her  offspring,  and  then  herself. 
When  she  was  seized,  she  had  already  slain  one  of  her  children  with  a  knife — a  beautiful  little  girl,  nearly 
white  in  complexion — and  had  severely  wounded  the  other  two.  A  coroner's  jury  was  called,  who  decided 
that  the  frantic  mother  had  killed  her  child,  and  it  was  proposed  to  hold  her  for  trial  under  the  laws  of 
Ohio.  But  it  was  discovered  that  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law  had  been  made  so  absolute  by  the  terms  of 
its  enactment  and  the  opinion  of  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  that  a  State  law  could  not  interfere 
with  it;  so  the  mother  and  her  surviving  companions  were  remanded  into  slavery.  They  were  taken 
across  the  Ohio  River,  and  all  traces  of  them  were  lost. 

When  the  hideous  character  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law,  in  all  its  aspects,  became  fully  manifest,  the 
public  conscience  was  aroused  to  action,  and  righteous  men  and  women  all  over  the  slave-labor  States, 
shocked  by  a  spectacle  that  disgraced  a  free  people  pretending  to  be  civilized,  protested  as  loudly  as  they 
dared ;  and  the  legislatures  of  several  of  the  free-labor  States  adopted  measures  for  relieving  their  citizens 
from  the  penalties  imposed  upon  those  who  should  refuse  to  become  slave-catchers. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


By  the  terms  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law,  the  sacred  right  of  trial  by  jury  was  denied  to  the  man  who 
was  alleged  to  be  a  slave,  and  he  had  no  redress.  This  was  logical,  for  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  United 
States  had  declared  that  the  black  man  "had  no  rights  which  the  white  man  was  bound  to  respect."  He 
had  also  declared  that  no  State  law  could  inter 
fere  with  the  operations  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act, 
or  with  slavery  itself.  This  opinion  was  directly 
adverse  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  a  statute  in  the 
code  of  the  State  of  New  York,  which  declared 
the  immediate  freedom  of  any  slave  wrhen  brought 
involuntarily  within  its  borders.  The  Legislature 
of  that  State  determined  to  sustain  that  statute, 
and  boldly  denounced  the  opinion  of  the  Chief 
Justice,  which  denied  citizenship  to  men  of  color 
who  had  descended  from  slaves.  Ohio  took 
similar  action,  and  Maine,  Massachusetts,  Con 
necticut,  Michigan  and  Wisconsin  took  strong 
ground' in  favor  of  the  freedom  of  the  slaves  with 
in  their  borders,  without  assuming  an  attitude 
of  actual  resistance  to  the  obnoxious  act  which 
every  citizen  was  bound  to  obey  so  long  as  it 
remained  unrepealed. 

This  movement  in  the  Northern  States 
naturally  exasperated  the  slaveholders,  and  it 
was  used  by  the  politicians  among  them  to  create 
hot  indignation  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  in  the 
slave-labor  States.  This,  according  to  the  testi 
mony  of  a  personal  friend  of  the  author  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act  (James  M.  Mason,  of  Virginia),  was 
precisely  what  the  peculiarly  offensive  features  of  that  act  were  intended  to  effect.  It -was  calculated 
that  it  would  finally  cause  resistance  to  the  measure  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  the  free-labor  States, 
and  so  give  a  plausible  pretext  for  disunion,  rebellion,  and  civil  war,  if  necessary,  on  the  part  of  the  friends 
of  the  slave-labor  system.  This  testimony  was  given  to  me  orally,  while  standing  among  the  ruins  of 
Mr.  Mason's  house  at  Winchester,  in  1866. 


TRACK  AND  BRIDGE  DESTROYED  ON  THE  VIRGINIA  CENTRAL  R.  P.. 


SCENE  IN  CAMP 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


29 


GENERAL  McMAHON's  HEADQUARTERS.    i6_].TH  NEW  YORK  VOLUNTEERS 


GENERAL  JAMES  H.  WILSON  AND  FRIENDS 


30 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHAPTER   III. 

Public  Quiet  Broken  by  John  Brown's  Raid — Incidents  of  that  Raid  and  Its  Effects — The  Republican  Party — A  Pretext  for  Revolution 
—  Convention  of  Democrats  at  Charleston  —  Disruption  of  the  Democratic  Party  —  Incidents  of  the  Plan  —  Xominations  for 
President  —  Principles  of  the  Parties  —  Lincoln  Elected  —  Action  of  the  Southern  Politicians — Yancey's  Mission  —  Fatal  Power  of 
the  Politicians. 

IN  the  fall  of  1859,  the  feverishness  in  the  public  mind,  excited  by  the  vehement  discussion  of  the  topic 
of  slavery,  had  somewhat  subsided,  when  suddenly  a  rumor  went  out  of  Baltimore,  as  startling  as  a 
thunder  peal  on  the  genial  October  air,  that  the  Abolitionists  had  seized  the  Government  Armory  and 
Arsenal  at  Harper's  Ferry,  at  the  junction  of  the  Shenandoah  and  Potomac  rivers,  and  that  an  insurrection 
of  the  slaves  in  Virginia  was  imminent. 

The  rumor  was  true.     John  Brown,  of  Ossawatamie,  who  had  fought  and  won  a  battle  on  the  Kansas 


prairie  in  1856,  had 
on  Sunday  evening,  the 
was  a  native  of  Connec- 
year  of  his  age,  and  had 
the  Abolitionists  (as  the 
labor  system,  who 
were  called)  in  early  life, 
fanatical  and  brave.  He 
midst  of  the  troubles  in 
fered  much;  and  he  be- 
destined  liberator  of  the 
With  a  few  white  fol- 
from  Missouri,  he  went 
at  Chatham  a  conven- 
was  held  in  May,  1859, 
Constitution  and  Ordi- 
the  United  States"  was 
strument  declared,  "for 
government,  but  simply 
This  was  part  of  a  scheme 
ing  of  the  slaves  for  ob- 
Brown  spent  the 


LOADING  THE  BIG  GUN  AT  FORT  CORCORAN 


struck  a  blow  at  slavery, 
1 6th  of  October.  Brown 
ticut,  in  the  sixtieth 
espoused  the  cause  of 
opponents  of  the  slave- 
wished  to  abolish  it, 
He  was  enthusiastic, 
had  been  active  in  the 
Kansas,  and  had  suf- 
lieved  himself  to  be  the 
slaves  in  our  Republic, 
lowers  and  twelve  slaves 
into  Canada  West,  and 
tion  of  sympathizers 
whereat  a  "Provisional 
nances  for  the  People  of 
adopted,  not,  as  the  in- 
the  overthrow  of  any 
to  amend  and  repeal." 
for  promoting  the  upris- 
taining  their  freedom, 
summer  of  1859  in  PreP" 


aration  for  his  work.  He  hired  a  farm  a  few  miles  from  Harper's  Ferry,  where  he  was  known  by  the  name 
of  "Smith."  There,  one  by  one,  a  few  followers  congregated  stealthily;  and  pikes  and  other  weapons 
were  gathered,  and  ammunition  was  provided,  with  the  intention  of  striking  the  first  blow  in  Virginia, 
and  arming  the  insurgent  slaves.  Under  cover  of  profound  darkness,  Brown,  at  the  head  of  seventeen 
white  men  and  five  negroes,  entered  the  village  of  Harper's  Ferry  on  that  fatal  Sunday  night,  put  out  the 
street  lights,  seized  the  Armory  and  the  railway  bridge,  and  quietly  arrested  and  imprisoned  in  the  Govern 
ment  buildings  the  citizens  found  here  and  there  in  the  streets  at  the  earliest  hours  of  the  next  morning, 
each  one  ignorant  of  what  had  happened.  The  invaders  had  seized  Colonel  Washington,  living  a  few 
miles  from  Harper's  Ferry,  with  his  arms  and  horses,  and  liberated  his  slaves;  and  at  eight  o'clock  on 
Monday  morning,  the  iyth  of  October,  Brown  and  his  few  followers  (among  whom  were  two  of  his  sons) 
had  full  possession  of  the  village  and  Government  works.  When  asked  what  was  his  purpose  and. 
by  what  authority  he  acted  Brown  replied,  "To  free  the  slaves,  and  by  the  authority  of  God 
Almighty."  He  felt  assured  that  when  the  blow  should  be  struck,  the  negroes  of  the  surrounding 
country  would  rise  and  flock  to  his  standard.  He  sincerely  believed  that  a  general  uprising  of  the 
slaves  of  the  whole  country  would  follow,  and  that  he  would  be  a  great  liberator.  He  was  mistaken. 

The  news  of  this  alarming  affair  went  speedily  abroad,  and  before  Monday  night  Virginia  militia 
had  gathered  at  Harper's  Ferry  in  large  numbers.  Struggles  between  these  and  Brown's  little  company 
ensued,  in  which  the  two  sons  of  the  leader  perished.  The  invaders  were  finally  driven  to  the  shelter  of 
a  fire-engine  house,  where  Brown  defended  himself  with  great  bravery.  With  one  son  dead  by  his  side, 
and  another  shot  through,  he  felt  the  pulse  of  his  dying  child  with  one  hand,  held  his  rifle  with  the  other 
and  issued  oral  commands  to  his  men  with  all  the  composure  of  a  general  in  his  marquee,  telling  them  to 
be  firm  and  to  sell  their  lives  as  dearly  as  possible. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


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CHRONOLOGICAL   SUMMARY  AND    RECORD 

Of  Every  Engagement  Between  the  Troops  of  the  Union  and  of  the  Confederacy,  in  the  Civil  War  in  the  United  States,  Shoving 

the  Total  Losses  and  Casualties  in  Each  Engagement — -The  Whole  Collated  and  Compiled  from  the 

Official  Records  of  the  War  Department  at  Washington. 


APRIL,   1861 

12 — Bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter,  S.  C.      No  casualties. 

16 — Evacuation  of    Fort  Sumter,   S.   C.      Union   1   killed,  3    wounded.      By 

premature  explosion  of  cannon  in  firing  a  salute  to  the  United  States 

flag. 
19— Riots  in  Baltimore,  Md.        Oth  Mass.,  26th  Pa.         Union  4  killed,  30 

wounded.     Confed.  9  killed. 

MAY,  1861 

10 — Camp  Jackson,   Mo.      1st,  3d  and  4th   Mo.     Reserve   Corps,   3d    Mo. 

Vols.      Confed.  639  prisoners. 

Riots  in   St.    Louis,    Mo.      5th   Mo.,   U.   S.    Reserves.      Union    4    killed. 
Confed.  27  killed. 

JUNE,   1861 

1— Fairfax  C.  H.t  Va.      Co.  B.  2d  U.  S.  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  4  wounded. 

Confed.  1  killed,  14  wounded. 
3— Philippi,  W.  Va.      1st  W.  Va.,  Hth  and  10th  Ohio,  7th  and  9th  Ind. 

Union  2  wounded.     Confed.  1(>  wounded. 

10— Big  Bethel,  Va.  1st,  2d,  3d,  5th  and  7th  X.  Y.,  4th  Mass.  Detach 
ment  of  2d  U.  S.  Artil.  Union  16  killed,  34  wounded.  Confed. 

I  killed,  7  wounded. 
11 — Romney,    W.    Va.      llth    Ind.      Union    1    wounded.      Confed.    2    killed, 

1  wounded. 

17 — Vienna,  Va.      1st  Ohio.      Union  5  killed,  6  wounded.     Confed.  6  killed. 
Booneville,   Mo.      2d  Mo.  (three  months')  Volunteers,  Batteries  H  and 

L  Mo.  Light  Artil.      Union  2  killed,  19  wounded.      Confed.   14  killed. 

20  wounded. 
Edwards  Ferry,   Md.      1st  Pa.      Union   1  killed,  4  wounded.     Confed. 

15  killed. 
18 — Camp   Cole,    Mo.      Home    Guards.      Union    15   to    25   killed,    25   to   52 

wounded.     Confed.  4  killed,  20  wounded. 
26 — Patterson  Creek  or  Kelley's  Island,  Va.      llth  Ind.      Union  1  killed, 

1  wounded.     Confed.  7  killed,  2  wounded. 
37 — Matthias'  Point,  Va.     Gunboats  Pawnee  and  Freeborn.      Union  1  killed, 

4  wounded. 

JULY,  1861 

2 — Falling  Waters,  Md.,  also  called  Haynesville  or  Martinsburg.  Md.        1st 

Wis.,  llth  Pa.      Union  8  killed,  15  wounded.     Confed.  31  killed,  50 

wounded. 
6 — Carthage  or  Dry  Forks,  Mo.  3d  and  5th  Mo.,  one  battery  of  Mo.  Artil. 

Union  13  killed,  31  wounded.     Confed.  30  killed,  125  wounded,  45 

prisoners. 
Newport  News,  Va.  1st  Co.  Oth  N.  Y.  Union  6  wounded.  Confed. 

3  wounded. 

6 — Middle  Creek  Fork  or  Buckhannon,  W.  Va.     One  Co.  3d  Ohio.      Union 

1  killed,  6  wounded.     Confed.  7  killed. 

7— Great  Falls,  Va.     8th  N.  Y.     Union  2  killed.     Confed.  12  killed. 
8 — Laurel  Hill  or  Bealington,  W.  Va.     14th  Ohio,  9th  Ind.     Union  2  killed, 

6  wounded. 
10 — Monroe  Station,  Mo.     16th  111.,  3d  la.,  Hannibal  (Mo.)  Home  Guards. 

Union  3  killed.     Confed.  4  killed,  20  wounded,  75  prisoners. 
11 — Rich  Mountain,  Va.     8th.  10th  and  13th  Ind.,  19th  Ohio.      Union  11 
killed,  35  wounded.      Confed.  GO  killed,  140  wounded,  100  prisoners. 
12 — Barboursville  or  Red  House,  Va.     2d  Ky.      Union  1  killed.     Confed.  10 

killed. 

Beverly,  W.  Va.     4th  and  Oth  Ohio.     Confed.  000  prisoners. 
14— Carrick's  Ford,  W.  Va.      Hth  Ohio,  7th  and  Oth  Ind.      Union  13  killed, 

40  wounded.      Confed.  20  killed,  10  wounded,  50  prisoners. 
16 — Millsville  or  Wentzville,   Mo.     8th   Mo.      Union  7  killed,   1  wounded. 

Confed.  7  killed. 
17 — Fulton,  Mo.     3d  Mo.  Reserves.      Union  1  killed,  15  wounded. 

Scarrytown,  W.  Va.     2d  Ky.,  12th  and  21st  Ohio,  1st  Ohio  Battery. 

Union  9  killed,  38  wounded. 
Martinsburg,   Mo.     One  Co.  of  1st  Mo.  Reserves.      Union  1  killed,   1 

wounded. 
Bunker  Hill,  Va.  Detachment  of  Gen.  Patterson's  command.  Confed. 

4  killed. 

18 — Blackburn's  Ford,  Va.  1st  Mass.,  2d  and  3d  Mich.,  12th  N'.  Y.,  De 
tachment  of  2d  U.  S.  Cav.,  Battery  E  3d  U.  S.  Artil.  Union  19  killed, 
38  wounded.  Confed.  15  killed,  53  wounded. 

18  and  19 — Harrisonville  and  Parkersville,  Mo.  Van  Home's  (Mo.)  Bat 
talion,  Cass  Co.  Home  Guards.  Union  1  killed.  Confed.  14  killed. 

11 — Bull  Run  or  Manassas.  Va.  2d  Me.,  2d  N.  H.,  2d  Vt.,  1st,  4th  and  5th 
Mass.,  1st  and  2d  R.  I..  1st,  2d  and  3d  Conn.,  8th,  llth,  12th,  13th, 
16th,  18th,  27th,  20th.  31st,  32d,  35th,  38th,  and  39th  N.  Y.,  2d,  8th, 
14th,  00th,  71st  and  70th  N.  Y.  Militia,  27th  1  a.,  1st,  2d  and  3d  Mich.. 
1st  and  2d  Minn..  2d  Wis.,  1st  and  2d  Ohio,  Detachments  of  2d,  3d 
and  8th  U.  S.  Regulars.  Battalion  of  Marines,  Batteries  D.  E,  G  and 
M,  2d  U.  S.  Artil..  Battery  E,  3d  Artil.,  Battery  D,  5th  Artil.,  2d  R.  I. 
Battery,  Detachments  of  1st  and  2d  Dragoons.  Union  481  killed, 
1,011  wounded,  1,460  missing  and  captured.  Confed.  200  killed, 
1,483  wounded.  Confed.  Brig. -Gens.  Bee  and  Barton  killed. 


22 — Forsyth,  Mo.  1st  la.,  2d  Kan..  Stanley  Dragoons.  Totten's  Battery. 
Union  3  wounded.  Confed.  5  killed,  10  wounded. 

24— Blue  Mills,  Mo.     5th  Mo.  Reserves.      Union  I  killed,  12  wounded. 

26 — Lane's  Prairie,  near  Rolla,  Mo.  Home  Guards.  Union  3  wounded. 
Confed.  1  killed,  3  wounded. 

27— Fort  Fillmore,  X.  Mex.  7th  U.  S.  Inft.  and  U.  S.  Mounted  Rifles,  in  all 
400  men,  captured  by  Confederates. 

AUGUST,  1861 

2 — Dux  Springs,   Mo.      1st  la.,  3d  Mo.,  five  batteries  of  Mo.  Light  Artil. 
Union  4  killed,  37  wounded.      Confed.  40  killed,  41  wounded. 

3 — Messilla,  N.  Mex.     7th  U.  S.  Inft.  and  U.  S.  Mounted  Rifles.      Union  3 

killed,  6  wounded.     Confed.  12  killed. 
6— Athens,   Mo.     Home  Guards,  21st  Mo.      Union  3  killed,  8  wounded. 

Confed.  14  killed,  14  wounded. 

Point  of  Rocks,  Md.     28th  N.  Y.     Conffd.  3  killed,  2  wounded. 
7— Hampton,  Va.     20th  N.  Y.     Confed.  3  killed,  6  wounded. 
8— Lovettsville,  Va.      19th  N.  Y.     Confed.  1  killed,  5  wounded. 

10— Wilson's  Creek,  Mo.,  also  called  Springfield  and  Oak  Hilt.  6th  and  10th 
Mo.  Cav.,  2d  Kan.  Mounted  Vols.,  one  Co.  of  1st  U.  S.  Cav.,  1st  la., 
1st  Kan.,  1st,  2d,  3d  and  nth  Mo.,  Detachments  of  1st  and  2d  U.  S. 
Regulars,  Mo.  Home  Guards,  1st  Mo.lLight  Artil.,  Battery  F  2d  U.  S. 
Artil.  Union  223  killed,  721  wounded,  201  missing.  Confed.  265 
killed,  800  wounded,  30  missing.  Union  Brig. -Gen.  Xathaniel  Lyon 
killed. 

Potosi,  Mo.     Mo.  Home  Guards.      Union  1  killed.     Confed.  2  killed,  3 
wounded. 

17 — Brunswick,  Mo.      5th  Mo.  Reserves.      Union  1  killed,  7  wounded. 

19 — Charlestown  or  Bird's  Point,  Mo.  22d  111.  Union  1'kllled,  6  wounded. 
Confed.  40  killed. 

20 — Hawk's  Nest,  W.  Va.  llth  Ohio.  Union  3  wounded.  Confed.  1  killed, 
3  wounded. 

26 — Cross  Lanes  or  Summerville,  W.  Va.  7th  Ohio.  Union  5  killed,  40 
wounded,  200  captured. 

27— Ball's  Cross  Roads,  Va.  Two  Co.'s  23d  N.  Y.  Union  1  killed,  2 
wounded. 

28  and  29— Fort  Hatteras,  X.  C.     9th,  20th  and  99th  N.  Y.  and  Xaval  force. 

Union    1    killed,    2    wounded.      Confed.    5    killed,    51    wounded,      715 
prisoners. 

29  — Lexington,  Mo.      Mo.  Home  Guards.      Confed.  8  killed. 

31— Munson's  Hill,  Va.     Two  Cos.  23d  X.  Y.      Union  2  killed,  2  wounded. 


SEPTEMBER,  1861 

1 — Bennett's  Mills,  Mo.      Mo.  Home  Guards.      Union  1  killed,  8  wounded. 
Boone  C.  H.,  W.  Va.     1st  Ky.      Union  6  wounded.     Confed.  30  killed. 
2— Dallas,  Mo.     llth  Mo.      Union  2  killed. 

Dry  Wood  or  Ft.  Scott,  Mo.     5th  and  6th  Kan.,  one  Co.  of  Oth  Kan. 
Cav.,  1st  Kan.  Battery.     Union  4  killed,  0  wounded. 

Beher's  Mills.     13th  Mass.     Confed.  3  killed,  5  wounded. 

10 — Carnifex  Ferry.  Oth,  10th,  12th,  13th,  28th  and  47th  Ohio.  Union  16 
killed,  102  wounded. 

11— Lewinsville,  Va.  19th  Ind.,  3d  Vt.,  65th  N.  Y.,  79th  N.  Y.  Militia. 
Union  6  killed,  8  wounded. 

12 — Black  River,  near  Ironton,  Mo.  Three  Cos.  1st  Ind.  Cav.  Confed.  5 
killed. 

12  and  13— Cheat  Mountain,  W.  Va.  13th,  14th,  loth  and  17th  Ind.,  3d, 
6th,  24th  and  25th  Ohio,  2d  W.  Va.  Union  0  killed,  12  wounded. 
Confed.  80  wounded. 

13 — Booneville,  Mo.  Mo.  Home  Guards.  Union  1  killed,  4  wounded. 
Confed.  12  killed,  30  wounded. 

14 — Confederate  Privateer  Judah  destroyed  near  Pensacola,  Fla.,  by  the 
U.  S.  Flag-ship  Colorado.  Union  3  killed,  15  wounded. 

16 — Pntchard's  Mills,  or  Darnestown,  Va.  28th  Pa.,  13th  Mass.  Union  1 
killed.  Confed.  8  killed,  75  wounded. 

12  to  20 — Lexington,  Mo.  23d  111.,  8th,  25th  and  27th  Mp..  13th  and  Hth 
Mo.  Home  Guards,  Berry's  and  Van  Home's  Mo.  Cav.,  1st  111.  Cav. 
Union  42  killed,  108  wounded,  1,024  missing  and  captured.  Confed. 
25  killed,  75  wounded. 

17 — Morristown.  Mo.  5th,  6th  and  Oth  Kan.  Cav.,  1st  Kan.  Battery. 
Union  2  killed,  6  wounded.  Confed.  7  killed. 

Blue   Mills,   Mo.     3d  la.      Union  11  killed,  30  wounded.     Confed.  10 

killed,  60  wounded. 
18 — Barboursville,  W.  Va.     Ky.  Home  Guards.      Union  1  killed,  1  wounded. 

Confed.  7  killed. 
21  and  22 — Papinsville  or  Osceola,  Mo.     5th,  Oth  and  Oth  Kan.  Cav.     Union 


17  killed. 


(Continued  in  Section   2) 


SHERIDAN       AT       FIVE       FORKS         A'PRIL       1.        1865 


A    HISTORY    OF    T PI E    CIVIL    WAR 


33 


Born  April  27.  1822. 


GENERAL  ULYSSES  SIMPSON  GRANT 


Died  at  Mt.  McGregor,  N.  Y..  July  23,  1885. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


o 


INFLATING  PROF.  LOWE'S  WAR  BALLOON 


CHAPTER    III.— Continued. 

N  Monday  evening,  Colonel  Robert  E.  Lee  arrived  at  Harper's  Ferry,  with  ninety  United  States 
marines  and  two  pieces  of  artillery.    The  doors  of  the  engine-house  were  forced  open,  and  Brown  and 

his  followers  were  captured.  He  was  speedily  indicted 
for  murder  and  treason;  was  found  guilty,  and  on  the  3d 
of  December  (1859)  he  was  hanged  at  Charlestown,  not 
far  from  the  scene  of  his  exploits.  The  most  exaggerated 
reports  of  this  raid  went  over  the  land.  Terror  spread 
throughout  Virginia.  Its  governor  (Henry  A.  Wise) 
was  excited  almost  to  madness,  and  declared  that  he  was 
ready  to  make  war  on  all  the  free-labor  States.  In  a 
letter  to  President  Buchanan,  written  on  the  25th  of 
November,  he  declared  he  had  authority  for  believing 
that  a  conspiracy  to  rescue  John  Brown  existed  in  Ohio, 
Pennsylvania,  New  York  and  other  States. 

Brown  was  suspected  of  being  an  emissary  of  the 
Abolitionists,  and  attempts  were  made  to  implicate 
leaders  of  the  Republican  party  and  the  inhabitants  of 
the  free-labor  States  generally  in  a  scheme  for  liberating 
the  slaves.  A  committee  of  the  United  States  Senate, 
with  the  author  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law  (James 
M.  Mason)  at  its  head,  was  appointed  to  investi 
gate  the  subject.  The  result  was  positive  proof  that 
Brown  had  no  accomplices  and  only  about  twenty-five 
followers. 

John  Brown's  attempt  to  free  the  slaves  was  a  crazy  one  in  itself,  and  utterly  failed,  but  it  led  to 
events  that  very  soon  brought  about  the  result  he  so  much  desired.  His  bitterest  enemies  acknowledged 
that  he  was  sincere,  and  a  real  hero,  and  he  became,  in  a  manner,  the  instrument  of  deliverance  of  millions 
from  bondage.  His  effort  aroused  the  slumbering  party  spirit  of  the  combatants  for  and  against  slavery 
to  great  activity,  and  at  the  beginning  of  1860,  a  remarkable  and  growing  strength  of  the  Republican 
party  was  everywhere  manifested.  Its  central  idea  of  universal  freedom  attracted  powerful  and  influential 
men  from  all  other  political  parties,  for  it  bore  a  standard  around  which  persons  differing  in  other  things 
might  gather  in  perfect  accord. 

The  elections  held  in  1858  and  1859  satisfied  the 
opponents  of  this  party  that  they  were  rapidly  passing 
to  the  position  of  a  hopeless  minority,  and  that  the  domi 
nation  in  the  National  Councils  which  the  friends  of  the 
slave-system  had  so  long  enjoyed  would  speedily  come 
to  an  end. 

The  sagacious  leaders  of  the  pro-slavery  party  in  the 
South,  who  had  been  for  years  forming  plans  and  prepar 
ing  a  way  for  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  so  as  to  establish 
the  great  slave-empire  of  their  dreams  within  the  Golden 
Circle  (to  be  noticed  presently) ,  believed  that  they  would 
not  be  able  to  elect  another  President  of  their  choice,  and 
that  the  time  had  come  for  the  execution  of  their  destruc 
tive  scheme.  A  pretext  more  plausible  than  that  of  the 
violations  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act  at  the  North  afforded 
them,  must  be  had,  for  that  act  had  become  too  odious 
in  the  estimation  of  righteous  men  and  women  in  all  parts 
of  the  Union  to  inspire  them  with  a  desire  for  its  main 
tenance.  No  such  pretext  existed,  and  the  politicians  in  FAMOUS  WAR  BALLOON  "INTREPID" 

NOTE— EXPLANATION  FOR  COLOR  FRONTISPIECE  SHERIDAN  AT  FIVE  FORKS— General  Horace  Porter,  in  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the 
Civil  War,"  says:  "  Sheridan  was  mounted  on  his  favorite  black  horse,  Rienzi,  that  had  carried  him  from  Winchester  to  Cedar  Creek,  and  which  T.  Buchanan  Read 
made  famous  for  all  time  in  his  poem  of  '  Sheridan's  Ride.'  The  roads  were  muddy,  the  fields  swampy,  the  undergrowth  dense,  and  Rienzi.  as  he  plunged  and  cur 
vetted,  dashed  the  foam  from  his  mouth  and  the  mud  from  his  heels,"  "  Where  is  my  battle  flag?  "  cried  Sheridan.  It  was  given  him,  and  now  in  the  picture  he  is 
before  us.  dashing  up  to  the  angle,  and  leaping  over,  followed  by  his  troops.  The  crouching  confederates  inside  the  works  threw  up  their  hands.  The  guns  are  dumb. 
More  than  1,500  of  them  surrender  there  to  the  rider  on  the  black  horse,  while  the  boys  in  blue  hurrah  in  hoarse  notes  of  victory  for  gallant  Phil  Sheridan. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


35 


SO 

o 


in 

td 


o 
o 


O 


O 
PI 


2; 

o 


36 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


NAVAL  BATTERY  IN  FRONT  OF  YORKTOWN 


the  slave-labor  States  deliberately  prepared  to  create  one,  which,  they  knew,  would  be  powerful.  At 
that  time  they  were  in  full  alliance  with  the  Democratic  party  of  the  North,  which  was  then  in  power. 
If  it  should  remain  a  unit  and  the  fraternal  relations  with  the  Southern  wing  of  the  party  should  continue 
undisturbed,  there  might  be  a  chance  for 
the  supremacy  of  the  coalition  awhile 
longer.  But  there  were  omens  already  of  a 
speedy  dismemberment  of  the  Democratic 
party,  for  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law  and  the 
attempt  to  nationalize  slavery  had  pro 
duced  wide-spread  defection  in  their  ranks. 
A  large  portion  of  that  party,  led  by 
Senator  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  showed  a 
proclivity  toward  independent  action,  and 
even  of  affiliation  with  the  Republican 
party  on  the  subject  of  slavery;  and  the 
hopes  of  the  friends  of  that  system,  of  the 
undivided  support  of  the  Northern  Democ 
racy,  vanished. 

In  view  of  this  impending  crisis,  the 
Southern  politicians  deemed  it  expedient 
to  destroy  absolutely  all  unity  in  the 
Democratic  party  and  make  it  powerless, 
when  the  Republicans  might  elect  their 
candidate  for  the  Presidency  in  the  fall  of 
1860.  Then  would  appear  the  pretext  for 
a  revolution — the  election  of  a  sectional 
President.  Then  the  plausible  war-cry 
might  be  raised—  "No  sectional  President!  No  Northern  domination!  Down  with  the  Abolitionists!" 
This  would  appeal  to  the  hearts  and  interests  of  the  Southern  people,  especially  to  the  slave-holding  class, 
"fire  the  Southern  heart,"  and  produce,  as  they  believed,  a  "solid  South"  in  favor  of  breaking  up  the 
old  Republic  and  forming  an  empire  whose  "corner-stone  should  be  slavery."  With  this  end  in  view, 
leading  politicians  in  the  South,  who  afterward  appeared  conspicuous  among  the  confederated  enemies 
of  the  National  Government  during  the  Civil  War,  entered  the  Democratic  National  Convention  assembled 
at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  on  the  23d  of  April,  1860,  for  the  purpose  of  nominating  a  candidate  for 
the  Presidency  of  the  United  States  and  setting  forth  an  embodiment  of  political  principles. 

On  the  appointed  day,  almost  six  hundred  chosea  representatives  of  the  Democratic  party  assembled 

in  Convention  in  the  hall  of  the  South  Carolina  Institute,  in  Charleston, 
and  chose  Caleb  Gushing,  of  Massachusetts,  their  chairman.  It  was 
evident  from  the  first  hour  after  the  organization  of  the  Convention  that 
the  spirit  of  Mischief  was  there  enthroned;  and  observing  ones  soon 
discovered  omens  of  an  impending  tempest  which  might  topple  from  its 
foundations  the  organization  known  as  the  Democratic  party. 

The  choice  of  Mr.  Gushing  as  chairman  was  very  satisfactory  to  the 
friends  of  the  slave-system  in  the  Convention.  He  was  a  statesman  of 
great  experience,  and  then  sixty  years  of  age ;  a  scholar  of  wide  and  varied 
culture,  and  a  sagacious  observer  of  men.  Because  he  had  joined  the 
Democratic  party  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Tyler's  defection;  had  been  a  con 
spicuous  advocate  of  the  war  with  Mexico  and  other  measures  for  the 
extension  and  perpetuation  of  the  system  of  slavery,  he  was  regarded  by 
the  Southern  men  in  the  Convention  as  their  fast  political  friend  and 
coadjutor;  but  when  they  made  war  upon  the  unity  of  the  Republic  the 
next  year,  he  gave  his  influence  in  support  of  the  National  Government. 
Mr.  Gushing,  in  his  address  on  taking  the  chair  in  the  Convention, 
declared  it  to  be  the  mission  of  the  Democratic  party  ' '  to  reconcile  popu 
lar  freedom  with  constituted  order ' '  and  to  maintain  ' '  the  sacred  reserved 
rights  of  the  sovereign  States."  He  declared  that  the  Republicans  were 
' '  laboring  to  overthrow  the  Constitution ' '  and  ' '  aiming  to  produce  in  this 


R.OHF.RT  TOOMBS  OF  THE  FlRST 
CONFEDERATE  CABINET 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


37 


td 


ffi 

> 

» 
>n 
w 
» 


38 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


country  a  permanent  sectional  conspiracy — a  traitorous  sectional  conspiracy — of  one-half  of  the  States 
of  the  Union  against  the  other  half;  who,  impelled  by  the  stupid  and  half -insane  spirit  of  faction  and 
fanaticism,  would  hurry  our  land  on  to  revolution  and  to  civil  war."  He  declared  it  to  be  the  "high  and 
noble  part  of  the  Democratic  party  of  the  Union  to  withstand — to  strike  down  and  conquer — these  banded 
enemies  of  the  Constitution." 

These  utterances  were  warmly  applauded  by  the  Convention,  excepting  by  the  extreme  pro-slavery 
wing.  They  did  not  wish  to  ' '  strike  down ' '  the  Republican  party.  They  had  a  more  important  scheme 
to  foster.  It  was  their  wish  to  "strike  down"  the  Democratic  party,  for  the  moment,  by  dividing  it. 
They  had  come  instructed  to  demand  from  the  Convention  a  candidate  and  an  avowal  of  principles  which 
should  promise  a  guaranty  for  the  speedy  recognition  by  the  National  Government  and  the  people,  in  a 

practical  way,  of  the  system  of  slavery  as 
a  national  institution.  They  knew  that  the 
most  prominent  candidate  before  the  Con 
vention,  for  the  nomination,  was  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  of  Illinois,  who  was  committed  to 
an  opposing  policy,  and  that  he  and  his 
friends  would  never  vote  for  such  a  "plat 
form  ' ' — such  an  avowal  of  principles.  They 


also  knew  that  his  rejection  by  the  repre 
sentatives  of  the  slaveholders  would  split 
the  Democratic  party,  and  they  resolved  to 
act  in  accordance  with  these  convictions. 
They  held  the  dissevering  wedge  in  their 


DEPARTURE  FROM  THE  OLD  HOMESTEAD 


own  hands,  and  they  determined  to  use  it 
with  effect. 

A  committee  composed  of  one  delegate 
from  each  State  was  appointed  to  prepare 
a  platform  of  principles  for  the  action  of 
the  Convention.  A  member  from  Massa 
chusetts  (Mr.  Butler)  proposed  in  that 
committee  to  adopt  the  "Cincinnati  Plat 
form"  agreed  to  by  the  Convention  that 
nominated  Mr.  Buchanan,  and  which  com 
mitted  the  Democratic  party  to  the  doctrine 
of  "Popular  Sovereignty;"  that  is  to  say, 
the  doctrine  of  the  right  of  the  people  of  any 


GROUP  OF  N.  Y.  yiST  VOLUNTEERS 


Territory  of  the  Republic  to  decide  whether  slavery  should  or  should  not  exist  within  its  borders.  Now 
was  offered  the  opportunity  for  entering  the  dissevering  wedge,  and  it  was  applied.  When  the  vote  was 
taken  on  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Butler,  it  was  rejected  by  seventeen  States  (only  two  of  them  free-labor 
States)  against  fifteen.  This  was  followed  on  the  part  of  the  majority  by  an  offer  to  adopt  the  ' '  Cincinnati 
Platform,"  with  additional  resolutions  declaring  in  the  spirit  of  Judge  Taney's  opinion,  that  Congress 
nor  any  other  legislative  body  had  a  right  to  interfere  with  slavery  anywhere,  or  to  impair  or  destroy  the 
right  of  property  in  slaves  by  any  legislation.  This  proposition  virtually  demanded  of  the  Democratic 
party  the  recognition  of  slavery  as  a  sacred,  permanent  and  national  institution. 

It  was  now  clearly  perceived  that  the  politicians  of  the  slave-labor  States  were  united,  evidently  by 
pre-concert,  in  a  determination  to  wring  from  the  people  of  the  free-labor  States  further  and  more  revolting 
concessions  to  the  greed  of  the  pro-slavery  faction  for  political  domination.  The  manhood  of  the  minority 
was  evoked,  and  they  resolved  that  the  limit  of  concession  was  reached,  and  that  they  would  yield  no 
further.  That  minority,  composed  wholly  of  delegates  from  the  free-labor  States,  and  representing  a 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


39 


o 
pi 

z 

PI 
ta 


o 

K 

•0 

PI 
50 
ui" 

PI 

so 


40 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


BRIDGE  ACROSS  CHICKAHOMINY  RIVER 


majority  of  the  Presidential  electors  (172  against  127),  offered  to  adopt  the  "Cincinnati  Platform,"  and  a 

resolution  expressing  a  willingness  to  abide  by  any  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 

on  questions  of  Constitutional  law.     They  also  offered  to  adopt  another  resolution,  denouncing  the  laws 

passed  by  Northern  legislatures  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act.  Mr.  Butler 
opposed  making  even  these  concessions  to 
their  arrogant  demands.  The  consequence 
was,  the  committee  went  into  the  Conven 
tion  with  three  reports — a  majority  and 
minority  report,  and  a  report  from  Mr. 
Butler. 

The  debate  upon  these  reports  was 
opened  by  the  chairman  of  the  majority 
committee  (Mr.  Avery  of  North  Carolina), 
who  assured  the  Convention  that  if  the 
doctrine  of  Popular  Sovereignty  should  be 
adopted  as  the  doctrine  of  the  Democratic 
party,  the  members  of  the  Convention  from 
the  slave-labor  States  and  their  constitu 
ents,  would  consider  it  as  dangerous  and 
subversive  of  their  rights,  as  the  adoption 
of  the  principle  of  Congressional  interfer 
ence  or  prohibition.  The  debate  continued 
until  the  2gth  (April,  1860),  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  3oth  the  vote  was  taken 

in  the  presence  of  an  immense  audience  with  which  the  hall  was  packed.     Mr.  Butler's'  report  was  first 

acted  upon,  and  rejected.     Then  the  minority  report  was  presented  by  Mr.  Samuels  of  Iowa,  and  adopted 

by  a  decided  majority.  Preconcerted  rebellion  immediately  lifted  its  head,  and  the  delegates  from  Alabama, 

led  by  L.  Pope  Walker  (afterward  the  Confederate  Secretary  of  War),  seceded  and  left  the  Convention. 

This    secession    was    followed    by 

delegates  from  the  other  slave-labor 

States,  and  they  all  reassembled  at 

St.  Andrew's  Hall  to  prepare  for  an 

independent   political   organization. 

The  disruption  of  the  Democratic 

party  represented  in  the  Convention 

was    now    complete.     The    slavery 

question  had  split  it  beyond  hope 

of  restoration;  an  event  which  had 

been    provided    for,    in    secret,    by 

the  politicians.     When  D.  G.  Glenn, 

of  the  Mississippi  delegation,  an 
nounced  the  secession  of  the  rep 
resentatives  from  that  State,  he 

said:     "I    tell    Southern    members, 

and,    for    them,    I    tell   the    North,  ' 

that   in   less   than    sixty  days  you 

will  find  a  united   South   standing 

side    by    side    with    us."        These 

utterances    called    forth    long    and 

vehement  cheering,  especially  from 

the    South     Carolinians;   and   that 

night  Charleston  was  the  theatre  of 

great  rejoicings,  for  the  leaders  there 

comprehended    the    significance    of 

the  movement. 

On     the     following     day,     the  MAP  OF  HARPER'S  FERRY 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


41 


GENERAL  GEORGE  B.  MCCLELLAN 


42 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


BRIDGE  BUILT  BY  THE  15™  N.  Y.  ENGINEERS 
CKICKAHOMINY  RIVER 


seceders,  with  James  A.  Bayard  of  Delaware  at  their  head,  organized  what  they  called  a  "Constitutional 
Convention; "  sneered  at  the  body  they  had  left,  as  a  "Rump  Convention,"  and  on  the  3d  of  May  adjourned 
to  meet  in  Richmond,  Virginia,  in  June.  The  regular  Convention  also  adjourned,  without  making  a 
nomination,  to  meet  at  Baltimore  on  the  i8th 
of  June. 

The  seceders  reassembled  in  Richmond  on 
the  nth  of  June.  Robert  Toombs  and  other 
Congressmen  had  issued  an  address  from  Wash 
ington  city,  urging  the  Richmond  Convention  to 
refrain  from  all  important  action  there,  but  to 
adjourn  to  Baltimore,  and  there  re-enter  the 
Convention  from  which  they  had  withdrawn,  and, 
if  possible,  defeat  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Douglas, 
This  high-handed  measure  was  resorted  to;  and 
when  the  Richmond  Convention  adjourned, 
most  of  the  delegates  hastened  to  Baltimore,  and 
claimed  the  right  to  re-enter  the  Convention 
from  which  they  had  formally  withdrawn.  The 
South  Carolina  delegates  remained  in  Richmond 
to  watch  the  course  of  events  and  manage  the 
scheme. 

At  the  appointed  time  the  regular  Conven 
tion  assembled  at  Baltimore,  with  Mr.  Gushing  in  the  chair.  The  question  arose  as  to  the  right  of  the 
seceders  to  re-enter  the  Convention.  Some  were  favorable  to  their  admission;  others  proposed  to  admit 
them  provided  they  would  pledge  themselves  to  abide  by  the  decision  of  the  majority.  A  stirring  time 
ensued,  and  the  matter  was  referred  to  a  committee,  a  majority  of  whom  reported  in  favor  of  admitting 
Douglas  delegates  from  the  slave-labor  States  in  place  of  the  seceders.  In  the  course  of  a  vehement 
debate  that  ensued,  a  slave-trader  from  Georgia  warmly  advocated  the  policy  of  reopening  the  African 
slave-trade,  and  his  sentiments  were  loudly  applauded.  The  majority  report  was  adopted,  when  a  large 
number  of  delegates  from  the  border  slave-labor  States  withdrew.  This  was  followed  the  next  morning 
(June  23,  1860)  by  the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Gushing  and  a  majority  of  the  Massachusetts  delegation.  "We 
put  our  withdrawal  before  you,"  Mr.  Butler  said,  "upon  the  simple  ground,  among  others,  that  there 
has  been  a  withdrawal,  in  fact,  of  a  majority  of  the  States;  and  further  (and  that  perhaps  more  personal 
to  myself)  upon  the  ground  that  I  will  not  sit  in  a  convention  where  the  African  slave  trade,  which  is 
piracy  by  the  laws  of  my  country,  is  approvingly  advocated." 

Vice-President  Tod,  of  Ohio,  now  took  Mr.  Cushing's  place  at  the  head  of  the  Convention,  which 
proceeded  to  nominate  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  of  Illinois,  for  President  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote. 
Herschel  V.  Johnson  of  Georgia  was  afterward  nominated  for  Vice-President.  Meanwhile  the  seceders, 
young  and  old,  had  reassembled,  called  Mr.  Gushing  to  the  Chair,  denominated  their  body  the  National 
Democratic  Convention,  and  proceeded  to  nominate  John  C.  Breckenridge  of  Kentucky  for  President, 
and  Joseph  Lane  of  Oregon  for  Vice-President.  A  recent  political  organization  calling  themselves  the 
"National  Constitutional  Party"  had  already  nominated  (May  9,  1860)  John  Bell  of  Tennessee  for 
President,  and  Edward  Everett  of  Massachusetts  for  Vice-President.  A  week  later  (May  16)  a  vast 
concourse  of  Republicans  assembled  in  an  immense  building  erected  for  the  purpose  in  Chicago,  and  called 
the  "Wigwam,"  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  of  Illinois  for  President,  and  Hannibal  Hamlin  of  Maine 
for  Vice-President. 

By  a  series  of  resolutions,  the  Republican  Convention  took  a  position  in  direct  antagonism  to  the 
avowed  principles  of  the  friends  of  the  slave-system  and  the  extra-judicial  opinion  of  Chief-Justice 
Taney.  They  declared  that  each  State  had  absolute  control  over  its  own  domestic  affairs ;  that  the  new 
political  dogma,  averring  that  the  National  Constitution,  of  its  own  force,  carried  slavery  into  the 
Territories  of  the  Republic,  was  a  dangerous  political  heresy,  revolutionary  in  its  tendency,  and  subversive 
of  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  country ;  that  the  normal  condition  of  all  the  territory  of  the  United 
States  is  that  of  freedom,  and  that  neither  Congress,  nor  a  Territorial  legislature,  nor  any  individuals  have 
authority  to  give  legal  existence  to  slavery  in  any  Territory  of  the  Union;  and  that  the  reopening  of 
the  African  slave-trade,  then  recently  commenced  in  the  Southern  States,  as  we  have  seen,  under  cover 
of  the  National  flag,  was  a  crime  against  humanity,  and  a  burning  shame  to  our  country  and  age. 

There  were  now  four  candidates  for  the  Presidency  in  the  field.     The  Democratic  party  was  hopelessly 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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SCENE  AT  SAVAGE  STATION,  JUNE,  1862 


split  in  twain.  The  Douglas  wing  made  no  positive  utterances  concerning  the  status  of  slavery  in  the 
Territories;  and  the  party  led  by  Bell  and  Everett  declined  to  express  any  opinions  upon  any  subject. 
Their  motto  was — The  Constitution  of  the  Country,  the  Union  of  the  States,  arid  the  Enforcement  of  the  Laws. 

Only  the  earnest  and  determined  wing  of  the 
Democratic  party  led  by  Breckenridge  and  of  the 
Republican  party  led  by  Lincoln,  showed  a  really 
aggressive  spirit  born  of  absolute  convictions. 
The  Southern  portion  of  the  former  had  resolved 
to  nationalize  slavery  or  destroy  the  Union;  the 
latter  declared  that  there  was  "an  irrepressible 
conflict  between  freedom  and  slavery,"  and  that 
the  Republic  could  not  exist  "half  slave  and  half 
free. ' '  This  was  the  real  issue ;  and  after  one  of  the 
most  exciting  political  campaigns  ever  witnessed 
in  our  country,  from  June  until  November,  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  elected  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
United  States  by  a  large  majority  over  the  other 
candidates,  with  Mr.  Hamlin  as  Vice-President. 
An  analysis  of  the  popular  vote  showed  that 
three-fourths  of  the  whole  number  were  given  to 
men  opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery.  This 
significant  fact  notified  the  friends  of  the  slave- 
system  that  the  days  of  their  political  domination  in  the  councils  of  the  nation  had  ended,  perhaps  forever, 
and  they  acted  accordingly. 

Such  is  a  brief  outline  history  of  the  conspiracy  of  Southern  politicians  to  divide  the  Democratic  party ; 
give  victory  to  the  Republican  party;  cause  the  election  of  a  "sectional  President,"  and  so  afford  a  plausible 
pretext  for  a  premeditated  attempt  to  dissolve  the  Union  and  destroy  the  Republic.  Thus  far  their 
schemes  had  worked  to  their  satisfaction;  it  now  remained  for  them  to  "fire  the  Southern  heart"  and 
produce  a  "solid  South"  in  favor  of  emancipation  from  what  they  were  pleased  to  call  the  tyranny  of  a 
"sectional  party"  led  by  a  "sectional  President."  This  accomplished,  they  would  be  ready  to  raise  the 
arm  to  give  the  fatal  blow  to  the  existence  of  the  Republic. 

The  leading  men  who  brought  upon  the  Southern  people  and  those  of  the  whole  country  the  horrors 
of  a  four-years  Civil  War,  with  all  its  terrible  devastation  of  life,  property  and  national  prosperity,  were 
few  in  number,  but  wonderfully  productive  of  their  kind.  They  were  then,  or  had  been,  connected  with 
the  National  Government,  some  as  legislators  and  others  as  cabinet  ministers.  They  were  not  so  numerous 
at  first,  said  Horace  Maynard,  a  loyal  Tennesseean,  in  a  speech  in  Congress,  ' '  as  the  figures  on  a  chess 
board.  There  are  those  within  reach  of  my  voice,"  he  said,  "who  also  knew  them,  and  can  testify  to  their 
utter  perfidy;  who  have  been  the  victims  of  their  want  of  principle,  and  whose  self-respect  has  suffered 
from  their  insolent  and  overbearing  demeanor.  No  Northern  man  was  ever  admitted  to  their  confidence, 
and  no  Southern  man  unless  it  became  necessary  to  keep  up  their  numbers ;  and  then  not  till  he  was  thor 
oughly  known  by  them,  and  known  to  be  thoroughly  corrupt.  They,  like  a  certain  school  of  ancient 
philosophers,  had  two  sets  of  principles  or  doctrines — one  for  outsiders  and  one  for  themselves;  the  one 
was  '  Democratic  principles '  for  the  Democratic  party,  the  other  was  for  their  own  and  without  a  name. 
Some  Northern  men  and  some  Southern  men  were,  after  a  fashion,  petted  and  patronized  by  them,  as  a 
gentleman  throws  from  his  table  a  bone,  or  a  choice  bit,  to  a  favorite  dog;  and  they  imagined  they  were 
conferring  a  great  favor  thereby,  which  would  be  requited  only  by  the  abject  servility  of  the  dog.  To 
hesitate,  to  doubt,  to  hold  back,  to  stop,  was  to  call  down  a  storm  of  wrath  that  few  men  had  the  nerve 
to  encounter,  and  still  fewer  the  strength  to  withstand.  Not  only  in  political  circles,  but  in  social  life, 
their  rule  was  inexorable,  their  tryanny  absolute.  God  be  thanked  for  the  brave  men  who  had  the  courage 
to  meet  them  and  bid  them  defiance,  first  at  Charleston  in  April,  1860,  and  then  at  Baltimore,  in  June! 
To  them  is  due  the  credit  of  declaring  war  against  this  intolerable  despotism." 

During  the  canvass  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1860,  pro-slavery  politicians  traversed  the  free-labor 
States  and  disseminated  their  views  without  hindrance.  Among  the  most  daring  and  outspoken  of  these 
was  William  L.  Yancey  of  Alabama,  who  was  a  fair  type  of  politicians  in  other  Southern  States  who,  by 
vehemence  of  manner  and  sophistry  in  argument,  misled  the  people.  He  was  listened  to  with  patience 
by  the  people  of  the  North,  and  was  treated  kindly  everywhere;  and  when  he  returned  to  the  South,  he 
labored  incessantly  with  tongue  and  pen  to  stir  up  the  people  to  rebellion,  saying  in  substance,  as  he  had 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


45 


o 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


written  two  years  before:  "Organize  committees  all  over  the  Cotton  States;  fire  the  Southern  heart; 
instruct  the  Southern  mind;  give  courage  to  each  other;  and  at  the  proper  moment,  by  one  organized, 
concerted  action,  precipitate  the  Cotton  States  into  revolution." 

The  "proper  moment"  was  near  at  hand.     Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected  by  a  large  majority  over  each 
candidate,  and  was  chosen  in  accordance  with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  National  Constitution;  yet, 

because  he  received  nearly  a  million  of  votes  less 
than  did  all  of  his  opponents  combined,  the  cry 
was  raised  by  the  Southern  politicians,  that  he 
would  be  a  usurper  when  in  office  because  he  had 
not  received  a  majority  of  the  aggregate  votes  of 
the  people;  that  his  antecedents,  the  principles  of 
the  Republican  platform,  the  fanaticism  of  his 
party  and  his  own  utterances,  all  pledged  him  to 
wage  an  unrelenting  warfare  upon  the  system  of 
slavery  and  rights  of  the  slave-labor  States,  with 
all  the  powers  of  the  National  Government  at  his 
command.  They  said,  in  effect,  to  the  people, 
through  public  oratory,  the  pulpit,  and  the  press, 
"Your  rights  and  liberties  are  in  imminent  dan 
ger — 'to  your  tents,  O  Israel! ' ' 

While  these  alarming  assertions  wyere  fear- 
EXAMINING  PASSES  AT  GEORGETOWN  FERRY  fully    stirring   the   inhabitants    of    the  Southern 

States,  the  politicians  were  rejoicing  because  their 

plans  were  working  so  admirably,  and  they  immediately  set  about  the  execution  of  their  long-cherished 
scheme  for  the  dissolution  of  the  Union.  All  active  loyalty  to  the  Government  was  speedily  suppressed 
by  an  organized  system ;  and  the  promise  of  a  North  Carolina  Senator  (Clingman) ,  that  Union  men  should 
be  hushed  by  "the  swift  attention  of  Vigilance  Committees,"  was  speedily  fulfilled.  In  this  work  the 
Press  and  the  Pulpit  were  powerful  auxiliaries ;  and  by  these  accepted  oracles  of  wisdom  and  truth,  thousands 
of  men  and  women  were  led  into  an  attitude  of  rebellion  against  their  government.  To  quiet  their  scruples 
the  doctrine  of  "State  Supremacy"  had  been,  for  a  long  time,  vehemently  preached  by  the  politicians 
and  their  allies,  and  the  people  were  made  to  believe  that  their  allegiance  was  primarily  due  to  their 
respective  States,  and  not  to  the  National  Government.  "Perhaps  there  never  was  a  people,"  wrote  a 
resident  of  a  slave-labor  State  in  the  third  year  of  the  Civil  War  that  ensued,  ' '  more  bewitched,  beguiled 
and  befooled,  than  we  were  when  we  drifted  into  this  rebellion." 


CHAPTER   IV. 

The  Pretext  for  Disunion — True  Reasons — State-Rights  Associations — Desires  for  a  Royal  Government  and  Aristocratic  Privileges — 
Early  Preparations  for  Disunion — Secret  Conferences — Sentiments  of  Virginians — Congratulatory  Despatches  on  Lincoln's  Election 
— Excitement  in  Charleston — Public  Offices  Abdicated — A  State  Convention  Authorized — Secret  Doings  of  Secessionists — Move 
ments  in  South  Carolina — State  Supremacy  and  Its  Effects — Events  in  Georgia — Toombs  and  Stephens — Movements  toward 
Secession  in  Various  States — Southern  Methodists — Initial  Steps  for  Disunion  in  South  Carolina — Dishonorable  Propositions — 
Vigilance  Committees — Secession  Assured. 

THERE  is  direct  evidence  to  prove  that  the  politicians  of  South  Carolina  and  elsewhere  had  been 
making  preparations  for  revolt  many  years,  and  that  the  alleged  violations  of  the  Fugitive-Slave 
Act  and  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  were  made  only  pretexts  for  stirring  up  "  the  common  people  " 
to  support  and  do  the  fighting  for  them.  The  testimony  of  speakers  in  the  Convention  at  Charleston 
that  declared  the  secession  of  that  State  from  the  Union  was  clear  and  explicit.  "It  is  not  an  event  of  a 
day,"  said  Robert  Barnwell  Rhett,  one  of  the  most  violent  declaimers  of  his  class;  "it  is  not  anything 
produced  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  election,  or  by  the  non-execution  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law.  It  is  a  matter 
which  has  been  gathering  head  for  thirty  years.  ...  In  regard  to  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law,  I  myself 
doubted  its  constitutionality,  and  doubted  it  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  when  I  was  a  member  of  that  body. 
The  States,  acting  in  their  sovereign  capacity,  should  be  responsible  for  the  rendition  of  slaves.  This 
was  our  best  security."  Another  member  of  the  Convention  (Francis  S.  Parker)  said:  "It  is  no  spasmodic 
effort  that  has  come  suddenly  upon  us ;  it  has  been  gradually  culminating  for  a  long  period  of  thirty  years. " 
John  A.  Inglis,  the  chairman  of  the  committee  that  drew  up  the  South  Carolina  Ordinance  of  Secession, 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


said:  "Most  of  us  have  had  the  matter  under  consideration  for  the  last  twenty  years."  And  Lawrence  M. 
Keit,  one  of  the  most  active  of  the  younger  politicians,  declared:  "I  have  been  engaged  in  this  movement 
ever  since  I  entered  political  life." 

When  President  Buchanan  in  his  annual  message  in  December,  1860,  declared  that  "the  long-continued 
and  intemperate  interference  of  the  Northern  people  with  the  question  of  slavery  in  the  Southern  States" 
had  produced  the  estrangement  which  had  led  to  present  troubles,  the  assertion  was  claimed  by  the  poli 


ticians  in  the  slave- 
untrue.  Senator 
Carolina,  had  declared 
1858,  that  the  discussion 
had  been  very  useful  to 
of  the  great  value  of 
States,  he  observed : 
the  happy  results  of  the 
far  our  gain  has  been 
test,  savage  and  malig- 
Now  we  have  solved 
of  emancipation  [from 
Northern  States]  by 
exposition  of  the  false 
philanthropy,  and  polit- 
barrassed  the  fathers  in 
North  and  in  Europe, 
let  loose  upon  us  all  the 
stands  it  now?  Why, 
a  century,  our  slaves 
bers,  and  each  slave  has 
value."  In  July,  1859, 


BLOCK  HOUSE  NEAR  AQUEDUCT  BRIDGE,  POTOMAC  RIVER 


labor  States  to  be 
Hammond,  of  South 
in  a  speech  in  October, 
of  slavery  at  the  North 
them.  After  speaking 
slavery  to  the  cotton 
"Such  has  been  for  us 
Abolition  discussion.  So 
immense  from  this  con- 
nant  as  it  has  been, 
already  the  question 
connection  with  the 
this  re-examination  and 
theories  of  religion, 
ical  economy,  which  em- 
their  days.  At  the 
they  cried  havoc,  and 
dogs  of  war.  And  how 
in  this  very  quarter  of 
have  doubled  in  num- 
more  than  doubled  in 
Alexander  H.  Stephens, 


of  Georgia,  said  he  was  not  one  of  those  who  believed  that  the  South  had  sustained  any  injury  by  these 
agitations.  ' '  So  far, ' '  he  said, ' '  from  the  institution  of  African  slavery  in  our  section  having  been  weakened 
or  rendered  less  secure  by  the  discussion,  my  deliberate  judgment  is  that  it  has  been  greatly  strengthened 
and  fortified."  Earl  Russell,  the  British  Premier,  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Lyons  at  Washington,  in  May,  1861, 
said  that  one  of  the  Confederate  commissioners  told  him  that  ' '  the  principal  of  the  causes  which  led  to 
secession  was  not  slavery,  but  the  very  high  price  which,  for  the  sake  of  protecting  Northern  manufactures, 
the  South  was  obliged  to  pay  for  the  manufactured  goods  which  they  required." 

De  Bow's  Review  was  the  acknowledged  organ  of  the  slave  interest.  In  its  issue  for  February,  1861, 
George  Fitzhugh,  a  leading  publicist  of  Virginia,  commenting  on  the  President's  message,  said:  "It  is  a 
gross  mistake  to  suppose  that  Abolition  is  the  cause  of  dissolution  between  the  North  and  the  South. 
The  Cavaliers,  Jacobites  and  the  Huguenots  who  settled  the  South,  naturally  hate,  contemn,  and  despise 
the  Puritans  who  settled  the  North.  The  former  are  master  races ;  the  latter  a  slave  race,  the  descendants 
of  the  Saxon  serfs."  Mr.  Fitzhugh  added:  "Our  women  are  far  in  advance  of  our  men  in  their  zeal  for 
disunion.  They  fear  not  war,  for  every  one  of  them  feels  confident  that  when  their  sons  or  husbands  are 
called  to  the  field,  they  will  have  a  faithful  body-guard  in  their  domestic  servants.  Slaves  are  the  only 
body-guard  to  be  relied  on.  .  .  .  They  [the  women]  and  the  clergy  lead  and  direct  the  disunion 
movement."  The  Charleston  Mercury,  edited  by  a  son  of  Barnwell  Rhett,  and  the  chief  organ  of  the 
conspirators  of  South  Carolina,  scorning  the  assertion  that  anything  so  harmless  as  "Abolition  twaddle" 
had  caused  any  sectional  feelings,  declared,  substantially,  that  it  was  an  abiding  consciousness  of  the 
degradation  of  the  "chivalric  Southrons"  being  placed  on  an  equality  in  government  with  "the  boors  of 
the  North"  that  made  "Southern  gentlemen"  desire  disunion.  It  said  haughtily,  "We  are  the  most 
aristocratic  people  in  the  world.  Pride  of  caste,  and  color,  and  privilege  makes  every  man  an  aristocrat 
in  feelings." 

It  was  by  men  of  this  cast  of  mind  that  "Southern  Rights"  associations  were  formed,  and  were 
fostered  for  nearly  thirty  years  before  the  Civil  War,  with  disunion  as  their  prime  object.  The  feeling 
of  contempt  for  the  Northern  masses  among  the  ' '  chivalric  Southrons ' '  was  more  intense  in  South  Carolina 
than  elsewhere.  The  self -constituted  leaders  of  the  people  there,  who  hated  democracy  and  a  republican 
form  of  government,  who  yearned  for  the  pomps  of  royalty  and  the  privileges  of  an  hereditary  aristocracy, 
and  who  had  persuaded  themselves  and  the  "common  people"  around  them  that  they  were  superior  to 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


49 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


all  others  on  the  continent  as  patterns  of  gentility,  refinement,  courtly  manners,  grace  and  every  charac 
teristic  of  the  highest  ideal  of  chivalry,  had  for  many  years  yearned  for  separation  from  the  vulgar  North. 
William  H.  Trescott,  who  was  Assistant  Secretary  of  State  under  Buchanan,  and  one  of  the  most  active 
members  of  the  "Southern  Rights  Association"  of  South  Carolina  (the  avowed  object  of  which  was  the 
destruction  of  the  unity  of  the  Republic),  said,  in  an  address  before  the  South  Carolina  Historical  Society 
in  1 8  5  9 :"  More  than  once  has  the  calm  self-respect  of  old  Carolina  breeding  been  caricatured  by  the  conse 


quential  insolence  of 
This  was  the  com- 
among  the  leading 
Russell,  writing  to  the 
close  of  April,  1861, 
for  monarchical  institu- 
model,  for  privileged 
aristocracy  and  gentry, 
parently  genuine.  Many 
would  go  back  to-mor- 
intense  affection  for  the 
love  of  British  habits 
for  British  sentiment, 
civilization  and  litera- 
tinguish  the  inhabitants 
ing  in  their  descent  from 
three  islands,  whose  for- 
and  with  whose  mem- 
unfrequently,  familiar 
an  aversion  which  it  is 
idea  of  to  one  who  has 


ENGINEER  CORPS  MAKING  CORDUROY  ROADS 


vulgar  imitators." 
mon  tone  of  thought 
South  Carolinians.  Dr. 
London  Times  at  the 
said :  ' '  Their  admiration 
tions  on  the  English 
classes,  and  for  a  landed 
is  undisguised  and  ap- 
are  they  who  say,  'We 
row,  if  we  could.'  An 
British  connections,  a 
and  customs,  a  respect 
law,  authority,  order, 
ture,  pre-eminently  dis- 
of  this  State,  who,  glory- 
ancient  families  on  the 
tunes  they  still  follow, 
bers  they  maintain,  not 
relations,  regard  with 
impossible  to  give  an 
not  seen  its  manifesta 


tions,  the  people  of  New  England  and  the  population  of  the  Northern  States,  whom  they  regard  as  tainted 
beyond  cure  with  the  venom  of  Puritanism. ' '  There  was  a  prevailing  voice,  Dr.  Russell  wrote,  that  said, 
"If  we  could  only  get  one  of  the  royal  race  of  England  to  rule  over  us,  we  should  be  content."  That 
sentiment,  he  wrote,  "varied  a  hundred  ways,  has  been  repeated  to  me  over  and  over  again." 

So  early  as  May,  1851,  when  there  were  active  preparations  in  South  Carolina  for  revolt,  Muscoe 
R.  H.  Garnett,  of  Virginia,  wrote  to  Mr.  Trescott,  then  a  leader  of  the  "Southern  Rights  Association" 
in  the  first-named  State,  expressing  his  fears  that  Virginia  would  not  consent  to  engage  in  the  movement. 
The  Legislature  did  not  favor  it,  but  he  expressed  the  hopeful  opinion  that  the  law-makers  did  not  reflect 
the  sentiments  of  the  people  of  the  State.  "In  the  East,  at  least,"  he  said,  "the  great  majority  believe 
in  the  right  of  secession,  and  feel  the  deepest  sympathy  with  Carolina  in  opposition  to  measures  which 
they  regard  as  she  does.  But  the  West — West  Virginia — here  is  the  rub ! — only  sixty  thousand  slaves  to 
Jour  hundred  and  ninety-four  thousand  whites!  When  I  consider  this  fact,  and  the  kind  of  argument  which 
we  have  heard  in  this  body,  I  cannot  but  regard  with  the  greatest  fear  the  question,  whether  Virginia 
would  assist  Carolina  in  such  an  issue.  I  must  acknowledge,  my  dear  sir,  that  I  look  to  the  future  with 
almost  as  much  apprehension  as  hope.  You  will  object  to  the  term  Democrat.  Democracy,  in  its  original 
philosophical  sense,  is  incompatible  with  slavery  and  the  whole  system  of  Southern  society.  ...  I 
do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  if  the  question  is  raised  between  Carolina  and  the  Federal  Government,  and  the 
latter  prevails,  the  last  hope  of  Republican  government  and,  I  fear,  of  Southern  civilization  is  gone." 

The  restless  spirits  of  South  Carolina  continued  to  confer  secretly  with  the  politicians  of  the  slave-labor 
States  on  the  subject  of  disunion;  and  finally,  in  November,  1859,  the  Legislature  of  that  State  openly 
resolved  that  "the  commonwealth  was  ready  to  enter,  together  with  other  slave-holding  States,  or  such 
as  desire  prompt  action,  into  the  formation  of  a  Southern  Confederacy."  The  Carolinians  were  specially 
anxious  to  secure  the  co-operation  of  the  Virginians ;  and  in  January  following,  at  the  request  of  the  Legis 
lature,  the  governor  of  the  State  sent  C.  G.  Memminger  as  a  special  commissioner  to  Virginia,  for  the 
purpose  of  enlisting  its  representatives  in  the  scheme  of  disunion.  With  protestations  of  attachment 
to  the  Union,  Mr.  Memminger  invited  the  Virginians  to  co-operate  in  a  convention  of  delegates  from 
slave-labor  States  to  "take  action  for  their  defence; "  in  other  words,  to  secede  from  the  Union.  He  made 
an  able  plea,  addressed  to  their  reason,  their  passions,  and  their  prejudices,  and  concluded  by  saying, 
"I  have  delivered  into  the  keeping  of  Virginia  the  cause  of  the  South."  But  the  Virginians  did  not  desire 
a  Southern  Confederacy  wherein  free-trade  in  African  slaves  would  prevail,  for  it  would  seriously  interfere 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


51 


H 

B 


m 
2 

M 


H 


52 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


with  the  profitable  inter-state  traffic  in  negroes.     So  they  hesitated;  and  in  an  autograph  letter  before  me, 
Mr.  Memminger  wrote  to  the  editor  of  the  Charleston  Mercury,  that  the  Democratic  party  in  Virginia 

was  "not  a  unit,"  that  "Federal  politics"  made  that  "great  State 
comparatively  powerless,"  and  that  he  saw  "no  men  who  would 
take  the  position  of  leaders  in  a  revolution." 

I  have  cited  these  few  utterances  from  speakers  and  writers 
who  were  participants  or  contemporaries  with  the  actors  in  the 
events  of  the  late  Civil  War,  that  the  reader  may  have  a  key  to  the 
real  causes  which  brought  about  that  war.  These  seem  to  have 
been  chiefly  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  slave-holders  to  be  freed 
from  social  and  political  contact  with  the  people  of  the  free-labor 
States  (whom  they  regarded  as  less  cultivated,  refined,  chivalric 
and  civilized  than  themselves) ,  with  perfect  freedom  to  extend  and 
perpetuate  the  system  of  slave-labor,  and  revive,  without  hind 
rance,  the  African  slave-trade.  Notwithstanding  the  Charleston 
Mercury,  at  the  beginning,  gave  greater  prominence  to  the 
first-named  cause,  after  more  than  three  years  of  wTar  (Feb 
ruary,  1864),  it  was  constrained  to  say:  "South  Carolina  entered 
into  this  struggle  for  no  other  -purpose  than  to  maintain  the  insti 
tution  of  slavery.  Southern  independence  has  no  other  object 
or  meaning.  .  .  .  Independence  and  slavery  must  stand  or 
fall  together." 

When  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  certified,  the  political 
leaders  in  South  Carolina  were  eager  to  begin  the  contemplated 
revolution.  To  be  prepared  for  immediate  action,  an  extra 
ordinary  session  of  the  Legislature  was  assembled  at  Columbia 

on  the  5th  of  November;  and  as  the  news  of  the  result  of  the  election  went  over  the  land,  the  governor 
of  the  State  received  congratulatory  despatches  from  other  commonwealths  wherein  the  politicians  were  in 


GENERAL  ROBERT  E.  LEE 


"THOSE  WHO  GAVE  THEIR  LIVES  THAT  THE  NATION  MIGHT  LIVE" — LINCOLN 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


53 


SCENES  IN  CAMP,  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC,  AUGUST  To  DECEMBER,  1863 


54 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


sympathy  with  the  Secessionists.  ' '  North  Carolina  will  secede, ' '  a  despatch  from  Raleigh  said.  ' '  A  large 
number  of  Bell  men  have  declared  for  secession;  the  State  will  undoubtedly  secede,"  said  another  from  the 
capital  of  Alabama.  Another  from  Milledgeville,  Georgia,  said:  "The  hour  for  action  has  come.  This 
State  is  ready  to  assert  her  rights  and  independence.  The  leading  men  are  eager  for  the  business. "  "  There 
is  a  great  deal  of  excitement  here,"  said  a  despatch  from  Washington  city;  "several  extreme  Southern 
men,  in  office,  have  donned  the  palmetto  cockades  and  declared  themselves  ready  to  march  South."  A 


despatch 
mond  said : 
State  s  e- 
will  send  you 
volunteers  to 
"Placards 
about  the 
message 
Orleans, 
con  vention 
favorable  to 
zation  of  a 
minute- 
second  mes- 
Washington 
firm;  a  large 
arms  will  be 
South  from 
here  to-mor- 
President  is 
His  feelings 
South.but  he 
assist  .  them 
So  was 


CHRIST  CHURCH,  ALEXANDRIA,  VA.,  WHERE  WASHINGTON  ATTENDED 


from  Rich- 
"If  your 
cedes,  we 
troops  and 
aid  you." 
are  posted 
city,"  said  a 
from  New 
"calling  a 
of  those 
the  organi- 
corps  of 
men."  A 
sage  from 
said  :  "  Be 
quantity  of 
shipped 
the  Arsenal 
row.  The 
perp  1  e  x  e  d. 
are  with  the 
is  afraid  to 
openly." 
revealed  the 


fact  that  simultaneous  action  in  favor  of  disunion  had  been  preconcerted.  As  these  despatches  came, 
one  after  the  other,  to  Columbia,  and  were  immediately  forwarded  to  Charleston,  a  blaze  of  pleasurable 
excitement  was  kindled  among  the  citizens  of  the  latter  place.  The  palmetto  flag,  the  emblem  of  the 
sovereignty  of  the  State,  was  everywhere  displayed.  From  the  thronged  streets  went  up  cheer  after  cheer 
for  a  Southern  Confederacy.  All  day  long  on  the  yth  of  November,  when  it  was  known  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  elected,  the  citizens  were  harangued  in  the  open  air  and  in  public  halls,  the  speakers  portraying  the 
glories  of  State  independence.  Flags  and  banners,  martial  music,  and  the  roar  of  cannon  attested  the 
general  joy ;  and  that  night  blazing  bonfires  and  illuminations  lighted  up  the  city.  Multitudes  of  palmetto 
cockades  (made  of  blue  silk  ribbon,  with  a  button  in  the  centre  bearing  the  figure  of  a  palmetto  tree)  were 
worn  in  the  streets  of  Charleston.  Public  offices  under  the  Government  of  the  United  States  were  closed, 
or  transferred  to  the  "sovereign  State"  of  South  Carolina,  in  the  most  formal  manner.  On  the  ;th  of 
November,  Judge  McGrath,  of  the  United  States  District  Court,  solemnly  resigned  his  office,  saying  to 
the  jurors:  "For  the  last  time  I  have,  as  judge  of  the  United  States,  administered  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  within  the  limits  of  South  Carolina.  So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  the  temple  of  justice  raised  under 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  now  closed."  He  then  laid  aside  his  judicial  gown  and  retired. 
The  collector  of  customs  at  Charleston  resigned  at  the  same  time;  so  also  did  the  attorney-general.  So 
it  was  that  before  a  convention  to  consider  the  secession  of  the  State  from  the  Union  had  been  authorized, 
the  Secessionists,  with  plans  matured,  acted  as  if  disunion  had  been  already  accomplished. 

The  Legislature  of  South  Carolina  assembled  at  Columbia  on  the  day  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  election, 
when  joint  resolutions  of  both  houses  providing  for  a  State  Convention  to  consider  the  withdrawal  of  the 
State  from  the  Union  were  offered.  Some  of  the  more  cautious  members  counselled  delay,  but  they  were 
overborne  by  the  more  fiery  zealots,  who  did  not  wish  the  popular  excitement  caused  by  the  election  to 
cool  before  the  decisive  step  should  be  taken.  One  of  the  latter  (Mr.  Mullins,  of  Marion),  in  a  speech 
against  delay  and  waiting  for  the  co-operation  of  other  States,  revealed  the  fact  that  an  overwhelming 
majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  State  were  opposed  to  the  schemes  of  the  politicians.  He  also  revealed 
the  important  fact  that  emissaries  had  been  sent  to  Europe  to  prepare  the  way  for  aid  and  recognition  by 
foreign  governments  of  the  contemplated  Southern  Confederacy.  "We  have  it  from  high  authority," 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


55 


GENERAL  WINKIELD  SCOTT  HANCOCK 


56 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


he  said, ' '  that  the  representative  of  one  of  the  imperial  powers  of  Europe  [France],  in  view  of  the  prospective 
separation  of  one  or  more  of  the  Southern  States  from  the  present  Confederacy,  has  made  propositions 
in  advance  for  the  establishment  of  such  relations  between  it  and  the  government  about  to  be  established 
in  this  State,  as  will  insure  to  that  power  such  a  supply  of  cotton  for  the  future  as  their  increasing  demand 
for  that  article  will  require."  He  urged  the  importance  of  immediate  action.  "If  we  wait  for  co-operation," 
he  said,  "Slavery  and  State  rights  will  be  abandoned;  State  sovereignty  and  the  cause  of  the  South  lost 
forever."  James  Chestnut,  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate,  recommended  immediate  secession; 
and  W.  W.  Boyce,  of  the  National  House  of  Representatives,  said:  "I  think  the  only  policy  for  us  is  to 
arm  as  soon  as  we  receive  authentic  intelligence  of  the  election  of  Lincoln.  It  is  for  South  Carolina,  in 
the  quickest  manner  and  by  the  most  direct  means,  to  withdraw  from  the  Union." 

Other  members  of  the  Legislature  were  equally  vehement;  and  on  the  i2th  of  November  (1860) 
an  act  was  passed  authorizing  a  Convention.  The  Legislature  also  formulated  the  doctrine  of  "State 
Sovereignty"  or  State  Supremacy,  in  a  resolution  that  declared  that  a  "Sovereign  State"  of  the  Union 
had  a  right  to  secede  from  it,  adopting  as  its  own  the  doctrine  that  the  States  of  the  Union  are  not  sub 
ordinate  to  the  National  Government ;  were  not  created  by  it,  and  do  not  belong  to  it ;  that  they  created 


CAPTURED  GUNS  AT  WASHINGTON  ARSENAL 

the  National  Government ;  from  them  it  derives  its  powers ;  to  them  it  is  responsible,  and  when  it  abuses 
the  trust  reposed  in  it,  they,  as  equal  sovereigns,  have  a  right  to  resume  the  powers  respectively  delegated 
to  it  by  them.  This  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  doctrine  of  State  Supremacy  ("State Rights,"  as  it 
was  adroitly  called)  which  dwarfs  patriotism  to  the  narrow  dimensions  of  a  single  State,  denationalizes 
the  American  citizen,  and  opposes  the  fundamental  principles  upon  which  the  founders  of  the  Republic 
securely  built  our  noble  superstructure  of  a  free,  powerful  and  sovereign  Commonwealth.  And  it  perverts 
the  plain  meaning  of  the  Preamble  to  the  National  Constitution,  which  declares  that  the  people  (not  States) 
of  the  whole  country  had  given  vitality  to  that  fundamental  law  of  the  land,  and  to  the  nation.  James 
Madison,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Republic,  in  a  letter  to  Edmund  Randolph  in  April,  1787,  wrote: 
"I  hold  it  for  a  fundamental  point,  that  an  individual  independence  of  the  States  is  utterly  irreconcilable 
with  the  idea  of  aggregate  sovereignty."  And  Washington  wrote  in  a  letter  to  John  Jay,  in  March,  1787, 
on  the  subject  of  the  National  Constitution:  "A  thirst  for  power,  and  the  bantling — I  had  liked  to  have 
said  the  monster — sovereignty,  which  have  taken  such  fast  hold  of  the  States  individually,  will,  when 
joined  by  the  many  whose  personal  consequence  in  the  line  of  State  politics  will,  in  a  manner,  be  annihilated, 
form  a  strong  phalanx  against  it." 

The  politicians  in  other  slave-labor  States  followed  the  example  of  South  Carolina  in  immediate 
preparations  for  secession.     Robert  Toombs,  then  a  National  Senator,  was  one  of  the  chief  conspirators 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


57 


58 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


against  the  life  of  the  nation,  and  by  violent  harangues  aided  materially  in  bringing  upon  his  State  (Georgia) 
the  awful  calamities  of  war.  In  a  speech  at  Milledgeville  on  the  1 3th  of  November,  he  exclaimed,  "With 
draw  your  sons  from  the  army,  from  the  navy,  and  from  every  department  of  the  Federal  public  service. 
Keep  your  own  taxes  in  your  own  coffers.  Buy  arms  with  them,  and  throw  the  bloody  spear  into  this 

denof  incendiaries  and  assassins  [the  Northern  people],  and  let  God  defend  the  right Twenty 

years  of  labor,  and  toils,  and  taxes,  all  expended  upon  preparation,  would  not  make  up  for  the  advantage 
the  enemy  would  gain  if  the  rising  sun  on  the  sth  of  March  should  find  you  in  the  Union.  Then  strike 
while  it  is  yet  time."  Then  he  cried:  "I  ask  you  to  give  me  the  sword;  for  if  you  do  not  give  it  to  me, 
as  God  lives,  I  will  take  it  myself ! "  In  the  war  that  ensued,  the  sword  was  given  him,  with  the  commission 
of  a  brigadier-general;  and  it  is  on  record  that  Mr.  Toombs,  acting  upon  the  maxim  that  "Prudence  is  the 
better  part  of  valor, ' '  was  never  known  to  remain  longer  than  he  was  compelled  to  in  a  place  of  danger  to 
himself.  On  the  following  evening,  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  a  man  of  conservative  views  and  equal 


COMPANY  OF  INDIANA  VOLUNTEERS 

courage,  in  a  speech  in  favor  of  the  Union,  exposed  the  many  misstatements  of  Mr.  Toombs,  and  touched 
the  fiery  Georgian  and  others  to  the  quick,  with  the  Ithuriel  spear  of  truth,  when  he  said :  ' '  Some  of  our 
public  men  have  failed  in  their  aspirations;  that  is  true,  and  from  that  comes  a  great  part  of  our  troubles." 

The  Georgia  Legislature  followed  the  example  of  South  Carolina  in  ordering  a  Convention  to  consider 
secession.  So,  also,  did  the  Legislatures  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama.  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar,  a  representative  in 
Congress  of  the  people  of  the  first-named  State,  submitted  to  the  inhabitants,  before  the  close  of  November, 
a  plan  for  a  Southern  Confederacy ;  and  a  few  days  before  the  election  of  delegates  to  the  Alabama  Con 
vention,  the  Conference  of  the  "Methodist  Church  South,"  sitting  at  Montgomery,  resolved  that  they 
believed  "African  Slavery,  as  it  existed  in  the  Southern  States  of  the  Republic,  to  be  a  wise,  humane  and 
righteous  institution,  approved  of  God,  and  calculated  to  promote,  in  the  highest  possible  degree,  the 
welfare  of  the  slave. ' '  They  also  resolved :  ' '  Our  hearts  are  with  the  South ;  and  should  they  ever  need  our 
hands  to  assist  in  achieving  our  independence,  we  shall  not  be  found  wanting  in  the  hour  of  danger. ' ' 

The  politicians  of  Florida,  with  those  of  Louisiana  and  Texas,  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  leaders  in 
the  other  four  States  named,  in  preparing  for  secession,  all  of  them  asserting  the  right  of  their  respective 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


59 


BATTERY  No.  4  IN  FRONT  OF  YORKTOWN 


60 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


States  to  secede  because  they  had  "created  the  National  Government."  The  fallacy  of  this  claim  is 
apparent  when  we  remember  that  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Texas  and  Florida  did  not  exist, 
even  in  territorial  form,  as  parts  of  the  Union,  when  the  National  Government  was  created,  and  that  three 
of  them  belonged  to  foreign  governments  at  that  time.  North  Carolina,  one  of  the  original  thirteen 
States,  joined  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  her  ancient  sisters,  in  providing  for  a  Convention;  and  the 
governors  of  all  the  slave-labor  States,  excepting  those  of  Delaware  and  Maryland,  who  had  been  elected 
by  the  Democratic  party,  showed  their  readiness  to  act  in  concert  with  the  Secessionists.  It  was  soon 
ascertained  that  the  President  of  the  Republic,  and  a  majority  of  his  cabinet,  were  ready  to  declare  that 
the  National  Constitution  did  not  give  the  Chief  Magistrate  authority,  to  stay  the  arm  of  insurrection 
or  rebellion  by  coercive  measures. 

Such  is  a  brief  outline  history  of  the  preparations  by  politicians  in  the  slave-labor  States,  for  marshal 
ling  a  combined  host  for  the  overthrow  of  the  Republic.  The  important  initial  step  was  taken  by  those 
of  South  Carolina.  When  the  Legislature  authorized  a  Convention,  orators  of  every  grade  immediately 


VIEWS  OF  FORT  PULASKI 

went  out  to  harangue  the  people  in  all  parts  of  the  State.  Motley  crowds  of  men,  women  and  children — 
Caucasian  and  African — listened,  in  excited  groups,  at  cross-roads,  court-houses,  and  other  usual  gathering 
places.  Every  speech  was  burdened  with  complaints  of  ' '  wrongs  suffered  by  South  Carolina  in  the  Union ; ' ' 
her  right  and  her  duty  to  leave  it ;  her  power  to  ' '  defy  the  world  in  arms ; ' '  and  the  glory  that  would  illumine 
her  whole  domain  in  that  near  future  when  her  independence  of  the  thralls  of  the  "detested  Constitution" 
should  be  secured.  Their  themes  were  as  various  as  the  character  of  their  audiences.  One  of  their  orators, 
addressing  the  slaveholders  in  Charleston,  said :  ' '  Three  thousand  millions  of  property  is  involved  in  this 
question;  and  if  you  say  at  the  ballot-box  that  South  Carolina  shall  not  secede,  you  put  into  the  sacrifice 

three  thousand  millions  of  your  property The  Union  is  a  dead  carcass,  stinking  in  the  nostrils 

of  the  South Ay,  my  friends,  a  few  weeks  more,  and  you  will  see  floating  from  the  fortifications 

the  ensign  that  now  bears  the  Palmetto,  the  emblem  of  a  Southern  Confederacy. "  The  Charleston  Mercury 
called  upon  all  natives  of  South  Carolina  in  the  army  or  navy  to  resign  their  commissions  and  join  in  the 
revolt.  "The  mother  looks  to  her  sons,"  said  this  fiery  organ  of  sedition,  "to  protect  her  from  outrage. 
.  .  .  .  She  is  sick  of  the  Union — disgusted  with  it,  upon  any  terms  within  the  range  of  the  widest 
possibility. ' '  This  call  was  responded  to  by  the  resignation  of  the  commissions  of  many  South  Carolinians ; 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


61 


CENTRAL  SIGNAL  STATION  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


62 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


and  the  leaders  in  the  revolutionary  movements  in  that  State,  seemingly  unable  to  comprehend  the  prin 
ciples  of  honor  and  fidelity — the  highest  virtues  of  a  soldier — boasted  that  "not  a  son  of  that  State  would 
prove  loyal  to  the  old  flag."  They  were  amazed  when  men  like  the  late  Admiral  Shubrick,  a  native  of 
South  Carolina,  refused  to  do  the  bidding  of  disloyal  politicians,  while  they  commended  the  action  of 
Lieutenant  J .  R.  Hamilton  of  the  navy,  another  ' '  son ' '  of  South  Carolina,  who,  at  Fortress  Monroe,  issued 
a  circular  letter  to  his  fellow  "Southrons"  in  the  marine  service,  in  which,  after  writing  much  of  honor, 
counselled  them  to  follow  his  example,  to  engage  in  plundering  the  Government,  in  these  words:  "What 
the  South  asks  of  you  now  is,  to  bring  with  you  every  ship  and  man  you  can,  that  we  may  use  them  against 
the  oppressors  of  our  liberties,  and  the  enemies  of  our  aggravated  but  united  people." 

Vigilance  committees  were  speedily  organized  to  discover  and  suppress  every  anti-secession  sentiment 
and  movement  in  South  Carolina;  and  before  the  close  of  November  these  committees  were  in  active 
operation,  clothed  with  extraordinary  powers,  as  "guardians  of  Southern  rights."  Their  officers  possessed 
full  authority  to  decide  all  questions  brought  before  them,  and  their  decision  was  "final  and  conclusive." 
The  patrols  had  power  to  arrest  all  suspicious  white  persons  and  bring  them  before  the  Executive  Com 
mittee  for  trial;  to  suppress  all  "negro  preachings,  prayer-meetings,  and  all  congregations  of  negroes  that 
may  be  considered  unlawful  by  the  patrol  companies,"  the  latter  having  unrestricted  authority  to  "correct 
and  punish  all  slaves,  free  negroes,  mulattoes  and  mestizoes,  as  they  may  deem  proper." 

The  powers  of  these  vigilance  committees  were  soon  felt.  Northern  men  suspected  of  feelings  opposed 
to  the  secession  movements  were  banished  from  the  State,  and  some  who  were  believed  to  be  "Abolition 
ists"  were  tarred  and  feathered.  The  committees  having  authority  to  persecute,  soon  made  the  expressed 
sentiment  in  South  Carolina  "unanimous  in  favor  of  secession;"  and  the  Charleston  Mercury  was  justified 
in  saying  to  the  army  and  navy  officers  from  that  State,  in  the  service  of  the  Republic,  when  calling  them 
home:  "You  need  have  no  more  doubt  of  South  Carolina's  going  out  of  the  Union  than  of  the  world's 
turning  round.  Every  man  that  goes  to  the  Convention  will  be  a  pledged  man — pledged  for  immediate  separate 
State  secession,  in  any  event  whatever." 

This  promise  was  uttered  before  the  members  of  the  Convention  had  been  chosen.  Everything  had 
been  arranged  by  the  politicians;  the  people  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  The  Southern  Presbyterian,  a 
theological  publication  of  wide  influence,  issued  at  Columbia,  said,  on  the  1 5th  of  December,  that  it  was 
well  known  that  every  member  of  the  Convention  was  pledged  to  pass  an  ordinance  of  secession,  and 
added :  "  It  is  a  matter  for  devout  thankfulness  that  the  Convention  will  embody  the  very  highest  wisdom 
and  character  of  the  State;  private  gentlemen,  judges  of  her  highest  legal  tribunals  and  ministers  of  the 
Gospel."  Even  almost  the  very  day  when  the  ordinance  of  secession  would  be  adopted  was  known  to 
those  who  were  engaged  in  the  business.  In  a  letter  to  me,  written  on  the  i3th  of  December,  the  late 
William  Gilmore  Simms,  the  distinguished  South  Carolina  scholar,  said :  "  In  ten  days  more  South  Carolina 
will  have  certainly  seceded ;  and  in  a  reasonable  interval  after  that  event,  if  the  forts  in  our  harbor  are  not 
surrendered  to  the  State,  they  will  be  taken." 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


63 


64 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHRONOLOGICAL   SUMMARY  AND    RECORD— Continued 


SEPTEMBER,  1861— Continued  from  Section  I 

22 — Eliott's   Mills  or  Camp   Crittenden,   Mo.     7th  la.      Union  1  killed,  5 

wounded. 
23 — Romney  or  Hanging  Rock,  W.  Va.     4th  and  8th  Ohio.      Union  3  killed, 

50  wounded.     Confed.  35  killed. 
25 — Chapmansville,  "W.  Va.    1st  Ky.,  34th  Ohio.     Union  4  killed,  9  wounded. 

Confed.  20  killed,  50  wounded. 

26 — Lucas  Bend,  Ky.     Stewart's  Cavalry.     Confed.  4  killed. 
29 — Camp  Advance,   Munson's  Hill,  Va.     69th  Pa.,  through  mistake,  fire 

into  the  71st  Pa.,  killing  9  and  wounding  25. 

OCTOBER,  1861 

3_Greenbrier.  W.  Va.     24th.  25th  and  32d  Ohio,   7th.  9th,   13th,   14th, 

15th  and  17th  Ind.r  Battery  G.  4th  U.  S.  Artil.,  Battery  A,  1st  Mich. 

Artil.     Union  8  killed,  32  wounded.     Confed.  100  killed,  75  wounded. 

4 — Alamosa,  near  Ft.  Craig,  N.  Mex.      Mink's  Cav.  and  U.  S.  Regulars. 

Confed.  11  killed,  30  wounded. 

Buffalo  Hill,  Ky.     Union  20  killed.     Confed.  50  killed. 
8 — Hillsborough.  Ky.    Home  Guards.     Union  3  killed,  2  wounded.    Confed. 

11  killed,  29  wounded. 

9— Santa  Rosa,  Fla.  6th  N.  Y.,  Co.  A  1st  U.  S.  Artil.,  Co.  H  2d  U.  S.  Artil., 
Co.'s  C  and  E  3d  U.  S.  Inft.  Union  14  killed,  29  wounded.  Confed. 
350  wounded. 

12 — Cameron,  Mo.    James'  Cav.    Union  1  killed,  4  wounded.   Confed.  8  killed- 
Upton  Hill,  Ky.     39th  Ind.     Confed.  5  killed,  3  wounded. 
Bayles'  Cross  Roads,  La.     79th  N.  Y.      Union  4  wounded. 
13 — Beckwith  Farm  (12  miles  from  Bird's  Point),  Mo.     Tuft's  Cav.     Union 

2  killed,  5  wounded.      Confed.  1  killed,  2  wounded. 

West  Glaze,  also  called  Shanghai,  or  Henrytown,  or  Monday's  Hollow, 
Mo.     6th  and    10th    Mo.    Cav.     Fremont   Battalion   Cav.     Confed. 
62  killed. 
16 — Big  Paver  Bridge,  near  Potosi,  Mo.     Forty  men  of  38th  111.      Union  I 

killed,  6  wounded,  33  captured.      Confed.  5  killed,  4  wounded. 
Lime  Creek.  Mo.      13th  111.  Inft.,  6th  Mo.  Cav.     Confed,  63  killed,  40 

wounded. 
16 — Bolivar  Heights,  Va.     Parts  of  28th  Pa.,  3d  Wis.,  13th  Mass.     Union  4 

killed,  7  wounded. 
Warsaw,  Mo.     Confed.  3  killed. 

17  to  21 — Fredericktown  and  Ironton,  Mo.     17th,  20th,  21st,  33d  and  38th 
111.,  8th  Wis.,  1st  Ind.  Cav.,  Co.  A  1st  Mo.  Light  Artil.     Union  6 
killed,  60  wounded.     Confed.  200  wounded. 
19 — Big  Hurricane  Creek,   Mo.     18th   Mo.     Union  2  killed,   14  wounded. 

Confed.  14  killed. 

21 — Ball's  Bluff,  also  called  Edwards  Ferry,  Harrison's  Landing,  Leesburg, 

Va.      15th,  20th  .Mass..  40th  X.  Y.,  71st  Pa.,  Battery  B,  R.  I.  Artil. 

Union   223   killed,   226   wounded.      Confed.    36   killed.    2(>4   wounded, 

445  captured  and  missing.     Union  Acting  Brig-Gen.  E.  D.  Baker  killed. 

22— Buffalo  Mills,  Mo.     Confed.  17  killed. 

23 — West  Liberty,  Ky.     2d  Ohio,   1st  and  Loughlin's  Ohio  Cav.,  1st  Ohio 

Artil.      Union  2  wounded.      Confed.  10  killed,  5  wounded. 
Hodge ville,    Ky.     Detach.    6th    Ind.      Union   3    wounded.     Confed.    3 

killed,  5  wounded. 
26 — Zagonyi's  Charge,  SpringfieJd,  Mo.     Fremont's  Body  Guard  and  White's 

Prairie  Scouts.      Union  18  killed,  37  wounded.     Confed.  106  killed. 
26— Romney  or  Mill  Creek  Mills,  W.  Va.     4th  and  8th  Ohio,  7th  W.  Va., 
Md.      Volunteers,  2d  Regt.  of  Potomac  Home  Guards,  and  Ringgold 
(Pa.)    Cav.      Union   2   killed,    15    wounded.     Confed.    20   killed,    15 
wounded,  50  captured. 
Saratoga,    Ky.     9th    111.     Union    4    wounded.     Confed.    8    killed,    17 

wounded. 
27 — Plattsburg,  Mo.     Confed.  8  killed. 

Spring  Hill,  Mo.      1st  Co.  of  7th  Mo.  Cav.      Union  5  wounded. 
29 — Wood  bury  and  Morgantown,  Ky.     17th  Ky.,  3d  Ky.  Cav.     Union  1 
wounded. 

NOVEMBER,  1861 

1 — Renick,  Randolph  Co.,  Mo.      Union  14  wounded. 

6 — Little  Santa  Ft'-.  Mo.     4th  Mo.,  5th  Kan.  Cav.,  Kowald's  Mo.  Battery. 

Union  2  killed,  6  wounded. 

7 — Belmont,  Mo.     22d,  27th,  30th  and  31st  111.,  7th  la..  Battery  B  1st  111- 
Artil.,  2d   Co.    15th   111.   Cav.      Union  90  killed,    173  wounded,  235 
missing.     Confed.  261  killed,  427  wounded,  278  missing. 
Galveston  Harbor.  Tex.      U.  S.  Frigate  ^antee  burned  the  Royal  Yacht. 

Union  1  killed,  8  wounded.      Confed.  3  wounded. 
Port  Royal,  S.  C.     Bombardment  by  U.  S.  Navy.      Union  8  killed,  23 

wounded.     Confed.  11  killed,  39  wounded. 

9— Pikctown  or  Fry  Mountain,  Ky.     2d,  21st,  33d  and  59th  Ohio,  IGth  Ky. 
Union   4 'killed,    26   wounded.      Confed.    18   killed,   45   wounded,   200 
captured. 
10 — Guyandott,  W.  Va.    Recruits  of  9th  W.  Va.    Union  7  killed,  20  wounded. 

Confed.  3  killed,  10  wounded. 
Gauley  Bridge,  W.  Va.     llth  Ohio,  2d  Ky.  Cav.      Union  2  killed,  16 

wounded. 
11 — Little  Blue,   Mo.      110  men  of  the  7th  Kan.  Cav.      Union  7  killed,  9 

wounded. 
12 — Occoquan   Creek,   Va.     Detach.    1st    N.   Y.    Cav.      Union   3   killed,    1 

wounded. 

17 — Cypress  Bridge,  Ky.      Union  10  killed,  15  wounded. 
18 — Palmyra,  Mo.      Detach.  3d  Mo.  Cav.     Confed.  3  killed,  5  wounded. 
19_Wirt  C.   H.,  W.   Va.     Detach.   1st  W.  Va.   Cav.     Confed.   I  killed,  5 

wounded. 

23 — Ft.  Pickens,  Pensacola,  Fla.     Cos.  C  and  E  3d  U.  S.  Inft..  Cos.  G  and  I 

Oth  N.  Y.,  Batteries  A,  F  and  L  1st  U.  S.  Artil.,  and  C,  H  and  K  2d 

U.  S.  Artil.     Union  5  killed,  7  wounded.    Confed.  5  killed,  93  wounded. 

24 — Lancaster,  Mo.  21st  Mo.     Union  1  killed,  2  wounded.     Confed.  13  killed. 


26— Little  Blue,  Mo.     7th  Kan.  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  1  wounded. 

Drainesville,  Va.      1st  Pa.  Cav.     Confed.  2  killed. 

29— Black  Walnut  Creek,  near  Sedalia,  Mo.  1st  Mo.  Cav.  Union  15 
wounded.  Confed.  17  killed. 

DECEMBER,  1861 

3 — Salem,    Mo.      Detach.    10th    Mo.   Cav.      Union  G  killed,   10  wounded. 

Confed.  16  killed,  20  wounded. 
Vienna,  Va.     Detach.   3d   Pa.    Cav.      Union  all  captured.     Confed.    1 

killed. 

4 — Anandale,  Va.      30  men  of  3d  X.  J.      Union  1  killed.      Confed.  7  killed. 
Dunksburg,  Mo.    Citizens  repulse  raiders.     Confed.  7  killed,  10  wounded. 
11 — Bertrand,  Mo.      2d  111,  Cav.      Union  1  wounded. 
13 — Camp  Allegheny  or  Buffalo  Mountain,  W.  Va.      9th  and  13th  Ind.,  25th 

and  32d  Ohio,  2d  W.  Va.      Union  20  killed,  107  wounded.      Confed.  20 

killed,  96  wounded. 
17 — Rowlett's  Station,  also  called  Mumfordsville  or  Woodsonville,  Ky.      32d 

Ind.      Union  10  killed,  22  wounded.      Confed.  33  killed,  50  wounded. 
18 — Milford,  also  called  Shawnee  Mound,  or  Blackwater,   Mo.      27th  Ohio, 

8th,  18th,  22d  and  24th  Ind.,  31st  Kan.,  1st  la.  Cav.,  Detach.  U.  S. 

Cav.,  2  Batteries  of  1st  Mo.  Lt.  Artil.      Union  2  killed,  8  wounded. 

Confed.  1,300  captured. 
20 — Drainesville,  Va.     1st,  6th,  9th.  10th  and  12th  Pa.     Reserve  Corps,  1st 

Pa.   Artil.,    1st   Pa.    Cav.      Union  7  killed,  61   wounded.      Confed.  43 

killed,  143  wounded. 
21 — Hudson,  Mo.     Detach.  7th  Mo.  Cav.      Union  5  wounded.     Confed.  10 

killed. 
22 — Xewmarket   Bridge,   near   Newport   News,  Va.      20th   N.   Y.      Union  6 

wounded.     Confed.  10  killed,  20  wounded. 

24 — Wadesburg,  Mo.      Mo.  Home  Guards.      Union  2  wounded. 
28— Sacramento,  Ky.      3d  Ky.  Cav.      Union  I  killed,  8  wounded.      Confed. 

30  killed. 
Mt.  Zion,   Mo.      Birge's  Sharpshooters,  3d   Mo.   Cav.      Union  5  killed, 

63  wounded.      Confed.  25  killed,  150  wounded. 

JANUARY,  1862 

1— Port  Royal,  S.  C.  3d  Mich.,  47th,  48th  and  79th  X.  Y.,  50th  Pa.  Union 
1  killed,  10  wounded. 

4 — Huntersville,  Va.      Detachments  of  25th  Ohio,  2d  W.  Va.  and  1st  Ind. 

Cav.      Union  1  wounded.      Confed.  1  killed,  7  wounded. 
Bath,  Va.,  also  including  skirmishes  at  Great  Cacapon  Bridge,  Alpine 
Station  and  Hancock.      39th  111.      Union  2  killed,  2  wounded.    Confed. 
30  wounded. 

Calhoun,  Mo.      Union  10  wounded.      Confed.  30  wounded. 
7— Blue  Gap,  near  Romney,  Va.     4th.  5th,  7th  and  Sth  Ohio,  14th  Ind.,  1st 

W.  Va.  Cav.     Confed.  15  killed. 
Jennies'  Creek,  Ky.,  also  called  Paintsvillc.      Four  Cos.  1st  W.  Va.  Cav. 

Union  3  killed,   1  wounded.      Confed.  6  killed,   14  wounded. 
8 — Charleston,  Mo.      10th  la.      Union  8  killed,  16  wounded. 

Dry  Forks,  Cheat  River,  W.  Va.     One  Co.  of  2d  W.  Va.  Cav.      Union 

6  wounded.      Confed.  6  killed. 

Silver  Creek,  Mo.,  also  called  Sugar  Creek,  and  Roan's  Tan  Yard.  De 
tachments  of  1st  and  2d  Mo.,  4th  Ohio,  1st  Iowa  Cav.  Union  5  killed. 
G  wounded.  Confed.  80  wounded. 

9 — Columbus,  Mo.      7th  Kan.  Cav.      Union  5  killed. 
10— Middle  Creek  and  Prestonburg.  Ky.      40th  and  42d  Ohio,  14th  and  22d 

Ky.      Union  2  killed,  25  wounded.      Confed.  40  killed. 

19   and   20 — Mill   Springs,    Ky.,   also   called   Logan's   Cross   Roads,    Fishing 
Creek,  Somerset  and  Beech  Grove.     9th  Ohio,  2d   Minn.,  4th  Ky., 
10th  Ind.,  1st  Ky.  Cav.      Union  38  killed,  194  wounded.      Confed.  190 
killed,  160  wounded.     Confed.  Gen.  F.  K.  Zollikoffer  killed. 
22 — Knob  Xoster,  Mo.     2d  Mo.  Cav.      Union  1  killed. 

29 — Occoquan  Bridge,  Va.  Detachments  of  37th  N.  Y.  and  1st  N.  J.  Cav. 
Union  1  killed,  4  wounded.  Confed.  10  killed. 

FEBRUARY,  1862 

1— Bowling  Green,  Ky.  One  Co.  of  2d  Ind.  Cav.  Confed.  3  killed,  2 
wounded. 

6 — Fort  Henry,  Tcnn.  U.  S.  Gunboats  Essex,  Carondelet,  Saint  Louis, 
Cincinnati,  Conestoga,  Tyler  and  Lexington.  Union  40  wounded. 
Confed.  5  killed,  11  wounded. 

8 — Linn  Creek,  Va.    Detachment  of  Sth  W.  Va.    Union  1  killed,  1  wounded. 

Conftd.  8  killed,  7  wounded. 

Roanoke  Island,  N.  C.  21st,  23d,  24th,  25th  and  27th  Mass.,  10th 
Conn.,  9th,  51st  and  53d  N.  Y.,  9th  N.  J.,  51st  Pa.,  4th  and  5th  R.  I., 
U.  S.  Gunboats  South fidd,  Delaware,  Stars  and  Stripes,  Louisiana, 
Hetzet,  Commodore  Perry,  Underwriter,  Valley  City,  Commodore 
Barney,  Hunchback,  Ceres,  Putnam,  Morse,  Lccku-ood,  J .  N.  Seymour, 
Granite,  Br  inker,  \Vhiithead,  Shawsten,  Pitkett,  Pioneer,  Hussar, 
Vtdettt,  Chasseur.  Union  35  killed,  200  wounded.  Confed.  10  killed, 
39  wounded,  2,527  taken  prisoners. 

10 — Elizabeth  City,  or  Cobb's  Point,  N.  C.,  U.  S.  Gunboats  Delaware,  Under- 
writtr,  Louisiana,  Seymour,  Hetzel.  Shawsten,  Valley  City,  Putnam,  Com 
modore  Perry,  Ceres,  Morse,  \Vhitehead  and  Br  inker.  Union  3  killed. 

13— Blooming  Gap,  Va.  8th  Ohio,  7th  W.  Va.,  1st  W.  Va.  Cav.  Union  2 
killed,  5  wounded.  Confed.  13  killed. 

14 — Flat  Lick  Fords,  Ky.  49th  Ind.,  6th  Ky.  Cav.  Confed.  4  killed,  4 
wounded. 

14,  16  and  16— Fort  Donelson,  Tenn.  17th  and  25th  Ky..  llth,  25th,  31st, 
and  44th  Ind..  2d,  7th,  12th  and  14th  Iowa,  1st  Neb.,  58th  and  76th 
Ohio,  8th  and  13th  Mo.,  8th  Wis.,  8th,  9th,  llth,  12th,  17th,  18th.  20th. 
28th,  29th,  3()th,  31st,  41st,  45th,  46th,  4Sth,  49th,  57th  and  5Sth  111., 
Batteries  B  and  D  1st  111.  Art.,  D  and  E  2d  111.  Artil.,  four  Cos.  111. 
Cav.,  Birge's  Sharpshooters  and  six  gunboats.  Union  446  killed, 
1,735  wounded,  150  missing.  Confed.  231  killed,  1,007  wounded, 
13,829  prisoners.  Union  Maj.-Gen.  John  A.  Logan  wounded. 

(Continued  in  Section  3) 


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SHERMAN         AT        KENESAW        MOUNTAIN,     OCTOBER        4.        1864 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


65 


66 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHAPTER  V. 

Secession  Convention  in  South  Carolina — Proceedings  of  the  Convention — Ordinance  of  Secession  Adopted — Public  Excitement — Signing 
the  Ordinance — Anxiety  of  the  Loyal  People — Secretary  Cobb's  Schemes — President's  Message:  Its  Tone  and  Reception — The 
Attorney-General's  Opinion — Movements  of  the  People  and  the  Clergy — Proceedings  in  South  Carolina — Declaration  of  Independ 
ence — Nationality  of  South  Carolina  Proclaimed — Events  in  Charleston  Harbor — Secretary  Floyd's  Treachery — Transfer  of  Troops 
to  Fort  Sumter — The  Secessionists  Foiled — Floyd  Succeeded  by  Holt. 


o 


N  the  3d  of  December,  1860,  delegates  to  the  State  Convention  of  South  Carolina  were  chosen. 
They  met  at  Columbia,  the  capital,  on  the  i7th,  and  chose  David  F.  Jamison  president  of  their 
body.  When  he  was  about  to  administer  an  oath  to  the  delegates,  a  serious  difficulty  was  presented. 


The  Constitu- 
provided  that, 
the  Constitution 
That  require- 
leaders  in  the 
away  by  ex- 
come  here  to 
port  one."  The 
the  object  of 
without  the 
scious  that  the 
them  to  be  an 
and  their  acts 
binding  upon 
President 
addressed  the 
taking  the  chair, 
saying:  "I  can- 
anything  better,  in  inaugurating  this 
the  words  of  Danton  at  the  commence- 
French  Revolution:  'To  dare!  and  again 
without  end  to  dare ! ' '  These  brave 
followed  by  considerable  excitement  in 
for  intelligence  came  that  the  small-pox 
epidemic  in  Columbia.  It  was  immedi- 
to  adjourn  to  Charleston.  One  of  the 
Miles)  begged  them  not  to  flee.  "We 
at,"  he  said;  and  exclaimed,  "Is  this  the 
South  Carolina?"  But  chivalry  was  not 
fear  of  the  loathsome  disease,  and  by  the 
next  morning,  the  delegates  all  fled  to 


tion  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina 
on  such  occasions,  an  oath  to  support 
of  the  United  States  must  be  taken, 
ment  was  like  a  cobweb  before  the 
movement;  and  the  difficulty  was  swept 
Governor  Adams,  who  said:  "We  have 
break  down  a  government,  not  to  sup- 
delegates  were  all  of  one  mind  concerning 
their  assemblage;  so  they  proceeded 
solemnity  of  an  oath  of  any  kind,  con- 
fundamental  law  of  their  State  declared 

unlawful  body, 
were  not 
any  one. 
Jamison  briefly 
Convention  on 
and  closed  by 
not  offer  you 
movement,  than 
ment  of  the 
to  dare !  and 
words  were 
the  Convention, 
was  raging  as  an 
ately  proposed 
delegates  (W.  P. 
shall  be  sneered 
chivalry  of 
proof  against 
first  train  the 
Charleston. 


PARAPET  AND  S.EA  VIEW,  FORT  SUMTER 


The  Convention  proceeded  to  business  by  appointing  several  committees  to  consider  various  subjects, 
such  as  the  relations  of  South  Carolina  to  the  United  States  in  regard  to  public  property  within  the  limits 
of  that  State,  and  commercial  relations;  also  their  connection  with  the  people  of  other  slave-holding  States. 
A  committee  was  also  chosen,  with  John  A.  Inglis  as  chairman,  to  report  the  form  of  an  ordinance  of 
secession.  After  debating  some  questions,  and  proposing  a  provisional  government  for  the  States  that 
might  follow  the  example  of  South  Carolina  in  seceding;  to  send  commissioners  to  Washington  city  to 
negotiate  with  the  National  Government  for  the  cession  of  its  property  within  the  State  of  South  Carolina, 
and  to  elect  delegates  to  meet  others  from  slave-labor  States  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  Southern  Con- 

NOTE— EXPLANATION  OF  COLORED  FRONTISPIECE  SHERMAN  AT  KENESAW  MOUNTAIN— General  John  M.  Corse  was  ordered  by 
Sherman  to  move  by  rail  to  Allatoona,  Ga.,  and  assist  the  garrison  at  that  point  in  holding  the  position  against  Hood  and  a  superior  force  of  Confederates. 
Corse  succeeded  in  reaching  Allatoona.  where  he  found  himself  in  command  of  about  2,000  men.  Here  he  was  surrounded  by  the  Confederate  forces,  and  ordered 
to  surrender  in  five  minutes.  Refusing,  he  was  attacked  on  every  side. 

This  picture  represents  Sherman  sending  to  General  Corse  the  famous  signal,  "  Hold  the  fort,  for  I  am  coming."  The  aids  with  their  glasses  are  straining 
their  eyes  to  catch  some  reply. 

In  his  Memoirs,  Sherman  describes  this  hour,  while  he  was  waiting  to  get  a  reply  to  his  signal,  as  full  of  great  anxiety.  He  did  not  even  know  whether 
Corse  had  reached  Allatoona  or  not.  That  pass  was  of  great  importance.  At  last  they  are  able  to  spell  out  over  the  heads  of  the  intervening  enemy  the  word 
Corseher,  which  means  "Corse  is  here."  And  Corse  gave  a  good  account  of  himself.  Without  the  aid  of  re-enforcements  he  repulsed  the  Confederate  forces, 
and  sent  this  characteristic  despatch  from  the  battlefield:  "I  am  short  a  cheek-bone  and  an  ear,  but  am  able  to  whip  all  hell  yet." 


Copyright,  1895,  by  CHARLES  F.  JOHNSON.     Copyright,  1905,  by  LOSSINC,  HISTORY  COMPANY.     Copyright.  1912,  by  THE  WAR  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


67 


MAJOR  ROBERT  ANDERSON 


68 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


federacy,  the  proper  committee  reported  an  ordinance  of  secession  in  the  following  words,  in  accordance 
with  the  theory  of  State  supremacy: 

"We,  the  people  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  in  convention  assembled,  do  declare  and  ordain,  and  it  is 
hereby  declared  and  ordained,  that  the  ordinance  adopted  by  us  in  convention,  on  the  2jd  day  of  May,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-eight,  whereby  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 

was  ratified,  and  also  all  acts  and  parts  of  acts  of  the  General  Assembly  of 

the  State,  ratifying 
amendments  of  the 
said  Constitution, 
arc  hereby  repealed, 
and  the  Union  now 
subsisting  between 
South  Carolina  and 
oilier  States,  under 
the  name  of  the 
United  States  of 


America,  is  here 
by  dissolved. " 

It  was  noon 
on  the  2oth  of 
December,  1860, 
when  this  ordi 
nance  was  sub 
mitted.  At  a 
quarter  before 
one  o'clock,  it 
was  adopted  by 

the  unanimous  voice  of  the  Convention,  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
nine  delegates  voting  in  the  affirmative.  They  were  then  assembled 

in  St.  Andrew's  Hall.  It  was  proposed  that  the  members  should  walk  in  procession  to  Institute  Hall, 
and  there,  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  in  the  presence  of  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  State  and 
of  the  people,  to  sign  it — "the  great  Act  of  Deliverance  and  Liberty." 

The  cry  at  once  went  forth,  "The  Union  is  dissolved!"  It  was  echoed  and  re-echoed  in  the  streets 
of  Charleston,  and  was  sent  upon  the  wings  of  lightning  all  over  the  Republic.  Placards  announcing 
the  fact  were  posted  throughout  the  city  of  Charleston,  and  again  the  people  of  that  town  were  almost 
wild  with  excitement.  All  business  was  suspended,  and  huzzas  for  a  "Southern  Confederacy"  filled  the 
air.  Women  appeared  in  the  "streets  with  secession  bonnets,  the  invention  of  a  Northern  milliner  in 
Charleston.  Flags  waved;  church-bells  pealed  merrily,  and  cannon  boomed;  and  some  enthusiastic 
young  men  went  to  the  grave  of  John  C.  Calhoun,  in  St.  Philip's  church-yard,  and  forming  a  circle  around 
it,  made  a  solemn  vow  to  devote  their  "lives,  their  fortunes  and  their  sacred  honor"  to  the  cause  of  "South 
Carolina  independence. ' ' 

Before  night  the  ordinance  of  secession  was  engrossed  on  a  sheet  of  parchment ;  and  at  the  appointed 
time,  in  the  evening,  Institute  Hall  was  crowded  with  eager  spectators  to  witness  the  signing  of  the  instru 
ment.  Back  of  the  president's  chair  was  suspended  a  banner  of  cotton  cloth,  on  which  was  painted  a 
significant  device.  At  the  bottom  was  a  mass  of  broken  and  discolored  blocks  of  hewn  stones,  on  each 
of  which  were  the  name  and  arms  of  a  free-labor  State.  Rising  from  this  mass  were  two  columns  made 
of  perfect  blocks  of  stone,  each  bearing  the  name  and  arms  of  a  slave-labor  State.  The  keystone  of  an 
arch  that  crowned  the  two  columns  had  the  name  and  arms  of  South  Carolina  upon  it,  and  it  bore  a  figure 
of  Calhoun.  In  the  space  between  the  columns  was  a  palmetto  tree,  with  a  rattlesnake  coiled  around  its 
trunk,  and  on  a  ribbon  the  words,  "Southern  Republic."  Beneath  all,  in  large  letters,  were  the  significant 
words,  " Built  from  the  Ruins." 

This  flag  foreshadowed  the  designs  of  the  Secessionists  to  overthrow  the  Republic  and  build  an  empire 


DESTRUCTION  OF  RAIL  ROAD  ROLLING  STOCK  ON  THE 
ORANGE  AND  ALEXANDRIA  R.  R. 


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09 


70 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


upon  its  ruins  whose  corner-stone  should  be  slavery.  To  that  end  the  members  of  the  Convention  proceeded 
to  sign  the  ordinance  in  the  presence  of  the  governor  of  the  State,  the  members  of  the  Legislature,  and 
other  dignitaries  of  the  land.  When  the  act  was  finished  there  was  deep  silence.  Then  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Bachman,  with  white  flowing  locks,  advanced  on  the  platform  whereon  the  president  sat,  and  with  uplifted 
hands  implored  Almighty  God  to  bless  the  people  engaged  in  the  act  and  to  favor  the  undertaking.  Then 
President  Jamison  exhibited  the  instrument  to  the  people,  read  it,  and  said:  "The  Ordinance  of  Secession 

has  been  signed  and  ratified,  and  I  proclaim  the 
State  of  South  Carolina  an  independent  common 
wealth."  The  people  shouted  their  approval; 
and  so  closed  the  first  great  act  in  the  terrible 
drama  of  the  great  Civil  War.  A  few  months 
afterward,  every  building  in  Charleston  in  which 
public  movements  for  the  destruction  of  the  Union 
had  taken  place  was  accidentally  destroyed  by 
fire;  and  late  one  evening  in  1866,  after  the  "Con 
federate  States  of  America,"  organized  in  Mont 
gomery  early  in  1861,  had  become  a  thing  of  the 
past,  I  heard  the  mournful  voice  of  a  screech-owl 
in  the  blackened  tower  of  the  Circular  Church 
which  stood  within  a  few  rods  of  the  grave  of 
Calhoun  in  St.  Philip's  church-yard. 

In  the  meantime,  the  National  capital  had 
become  the  theatre  of  stirring  events.  The  pro 
ceedings  of  the  Southern  politicians  had  been 
watched  by  the  loyal  people  of  the  country  with 
intense  interest  and  anxiety,  especially  by  the 
mercantile  and  manufacturing  classes.  To  these 


TRANSPORTS  ON  THE  JAMES,  MONITOR  IN  THE  DISTANCE 


the  Southern  planters  and  merchants  were  in 
debted  to  the  amount  of  full  two  hundred  million 
dollars,  and  at  the  middle  of  November,  remittances  from  the  South  had  almost  ceased,  owing  to  various 
causes.  Howell  Cobb,  one  of  the  most  active  of  the  secret  enemies  of  the  Republic,  was  then  Mr.  Buchan 
an's  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  had  adroitly  managed  to  strike  a  paralyzing  blow  at  the  public  credit, 
months  before  Mr.  Lincoln's  election.  When  he  entered  the  cabinet  in  1857,  he  found  the  Government 
coffers  so  overflowing,  that  the  treasury  notes  next  due  were  bought  in;  in  the  autumn  of  1860,  the  treasury 
was  empty,  and  he  was  in  the  market  as  a  borrower  of  money  to  carry  on  the  ordinary  operations  of  the 
Government.  His  management  had  created  such  distrust  in  financial  circles,  that  he  was  compelled  to 
pay  ruinous  premiums  at  a  time  when  money  was  never  more  abundant  in  the  country. 

This  wrecking  of  the  Government  by  destroying  its  credit  was  a  part  of  Cobb's  financial  scheme  for 
the  benefit  of  his  associate  Secessionists.  Another  of  his  schemes  for  the  supposed  benefit  of  the  South 
was  foreshadowed  in  a  letter  (the  original  is  before  me),  written  by  William  H.  Trescott,  then  Assistant 
Secretary  of  State,  to  the  editor  of  the  Charleston  Mercury,  dated  "Washington,  Nov.  i,  1860."  In  that 
letter,  by  permission  of  Mr.  Cobb,  Mr.  Trescott  gives  that  gentleman's  views  concerning  the  situation. 
After  some  remarks  about  deferring  overt  acts  of  rebellion  until  the  4th  of  March  following,  Mr.  Trescott 
wrote:  "Mr.  Cobb  desires  me  to  impress  upon  you  his  conviction  that  any  attempt  to  precipitate  the 
actual  issue  upon  this  Administration  will  be  most  mischievous — calculated  to  produce  differences  of 
opinion  and  destroy  unanimity.  He  thinks  it  of  great  importance  that  the  cotton  crop  should  go  forward  at 
once,  and  that  the  money  should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  that  the  cry  of  popular  distress  shall  not  be  heard 
at  the  outset  of  this  move."  Mr.  Cobb's  motive  for  his  recommendation  is  made  apparent  by  the  fact  that 
it  was  a  common  practice  for  the  cotton  planter  to  receive  pay  for  his  crops  in  advance.  The  crop  then 
to  "go  forward"  was  already  paid  for.  The  money  to  be  received  on  its  delivery  was  for  the  next  year's 
crop,  which  would  never  be  delivered.  It  was  a  deliberate  scheme  to  cheat  Northern  men  out  of  many  millions 
of  dollars — a  scheme  which  the  honest  cotton-growers  would  not  have  sanctioned  had  they  been  aware  of 
it.  But  in  this,  as  in  all  other  plans  then  ripening  for  a  rebellion,  the  politicians  would  not  trust  the 
people  with  their  secrets. 

The  meeting  of  the  Thirty-sixth  Congress  on  the  3d  of  December,  drew  the  attention  of  the  whole 
people  to  the  National  capital.  It  was  an  event  of  solemn  interest  to  the  nation.  To  the  Annual  Message 
of  the  President  the  public  looked  eagerly  for  a  definite  expression  of  the  views  of  the  Government  on  the 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


71 


H 

c 


72 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


all-absorbing  topic.  The  people  sat  down  to  read  it  with  hope,  and  arose  from  its  perusal  with  grievous 
disappointment.  Faint-heartedness  and  indecision  appeared  in  almost  every  paragraph.  After  arguing  that 
the  election  of  a  President  who  was  distasteful  to  the  people  of  one  section  of  the  country  afforded  no  excuse 
for  the  offended  ones  to  rebel,  he  declared  that  certain  acts  of  Northern  State  Legislatures  in  opposition  to 
the  Fugitive-Slave  Law  were  violations  of  the  Constitution,  and  if  not  repealed  "the  injured  States,  after 
having  first  used  all  peaceful  and  Constitutional means  to  ob 
tain  redress,  would  be  justified  in  revolutionary  re- 
the  Government."  The  Secessionists  could  ask 
The  President  then  considered  the  right  of 
and  the  relative  powers  of  the  National  Govern- 
fore  preparing  this  portion  of  his  message,  he 
the  Attorney-General  (Jeremiah  S.  Black)  for 
was  given  in  ample  measure  on  the  2oth  of  Novem- 
less  than  three  thousand  words.  It  gave  much 
comfort "  to  the  enemies  of  the  Union,  for  it  yielded 
to  them.  It  declared,  in  substance,  that  any  State 
inherent  right  to  secede,  and  when  it  had  seceded, 
power  known  to  the  Constitu- 
pel  it  to  re  turn  to  the  Union.  He 
by  an  act  of  secession  a  State 
disappeared  as  a  part  of  the  Re- 
the  power  of  the  National  Gov- 
being  only  auxiliary  to  State  life 
National  troops  would  certainly 
use  wholly  illegal."  It  seemed 
an  attempt  to  force  the  people 
the  laws  of  the  Republic  and  to 
troy  it,  would  be  making  war 
would  be  converted  into  alien 
pelled  to  act  accordingly."  He 
virtually  to 
to  become 
faction,  or 
rather  than 
disposal,  for 
ty  and  life. 
ing  the  ad- 
doctrine  into 
of  its  dan- 
against 
heresy  dan- 
doctrine 
Confederacy 
the  first  ad- 
I  n  this 
may  resolve 
lies,  e  ac'h 
w  h  e  n  e  v  er 
a  course.  By 
fragments  in 
toil,  priva- 


VIEWS  OF  FORT  BEAUREGARD,  BAY  POINT,  S.  C., 
NOVEMBER,   iS6r 


sistance  to 
no  more, 
secession, 
ment.  Be- 
turned  to 
advice.  It 
ber,  in  not 
"aid  an  d 
everything 
possessed  an 
there  was  no 
tion  to  corn- 
argued  that 
had  virtually 
public;  and 
e  r  n  m  e  n  t 
and  force, 

"be  out  of  place,  and  their 
to  the  Attorney-General  that 
of  a  State  in^o  submission  to 
desist  from  attempts  to  des- 
upon  them,  by  which  they 
enemies,  and  would  ' '  be  corn- 
counselled  the  President, 
suffer  this  concrete  Republic 
disintegrated  by  the  fires  of 
the  blows  of  actual  rebellion, 
to  use  force  legitimately  at  his 
the  preservation  of  its  integri- 
The  weak  President,  accept- 
vice  of  the  Attorney-General,  incorporated  the 
a  portion  of  his  Message ;  but,  apparently  conscious 
gerous  tendency,  he  uttered  some  brave  words 
secession  as  a  crime,  and  State  Supremacy  as  a 
gerous  to  the  nationality  of  the  Republic — a 
which,  if  practically  carried  out,  would  make  "the 
a  rope  of  sand,  to  be  penetrated  and  dissolved  by 
verse  wave  of  public  opinion  in  any  of  the  States, 
manner,"  he  truly  said,  "our  thirty-three  States 
themselves  into  so  many  jarring  and  hostile  repub- 
one  retiring  from  the  Union  without  responsibility, 
any  sudden  excitement  might  impel  them  to  such 
this  process  a  Union  might  be  entirely  broken  into 
a  few  weeks,  which  cost  our  fathers  many  years  of 
tion,  and  blood  to  establish." 


Seemingly  alarmed  at  his  own  outspoken  convictions,  and  the  offence  it  might  give  his  Southern 
friends,  the  perplexed  President  proposed  to  conciliate  them  by  allowing  them  to  infuse  deadly  poison 
into  the  blood  of  their  intended  victim,  which  would  more  slowly  but  as  surely  accomplish  their  purpose. 
To  do  this  he  proposed  an  "explanatory  amendment"  to  the  Constitution  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  which 
would  give  to  the  enemies  of  the  Union  everything  which  they  demanded,  namely,  the  elevation  of  the  slave- 
system  to  the  dignity  of  a  National  institution,  and  thus  sap  the  very  foundations  of  our  free  Government. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


73 


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11 
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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


This  amendment  was  to  consist  of  an  express  recognition  of  the  right  of  property  in  slaves  in  the  States 
where  slavery  then  existed  or  might  thereafter  exist ;  of  the  recognition  of  the  duty  of  the  National  Govern 
ment  to  protect  that  right  in  all  the  Territories  throughout  their  territorial  existence;  the  recognition  of 
the  right  of  the  slave-owner  to  every  privilege  and  advantage  given  him  in  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law;  and 
a  declaration  that  all  the  State  laws  impairing  or  defeating  that  law  were  violations  of  the  Constitution, 
and  consequently  null  and  void. 

This  Message,  so  indecisive  and  inconsistent,  alarmed  the  people  and  pleased  nobody.  When  a 
motion  was  made  in  the  National  Senate  for  its  reference,  it  was  spoken  lightly  of  by  the  friends  and  foes 
of  the  Union.  Senator  Clingman,  of  North  Carolina,  who  first  sounded  the  trumpet  of  disunion  in  the 
Upper  House,  declared  that  it  fell  short  of  stating  the  case  then  before  the  country.  Senator  Wigfall,  of 
Texas,  said  he  could  not  understand  it;  and  in  the  course  of  debate  a  few  weeks  afterward,  Senator  Jefferson 


Davis  said  that 
diplomacy  is 
he  continued, 
to  reach  any 
When  the  coun- 
being  formed, 
power  ever  to 
we  have  the 
trate.  One  policy 
.  either 
subordinate  to 
G  o  v  e  r  nment, 
bound  to  enforce 
as  a  State  Rights 

he  professed  to  be,  holding  that  the 
gave  no  power  to  the  Federal  Gov- 
coerce  a  State.  The  President  should 
his  opinion  to  one  conclusion  or 
to-day,  our  country  would  have  been 
Senator  Hale,  of  New  Hampshire, 


it  had  "all  the  characteristics  of  a  diplomatic  paper,  for 
said  to  abhor  certainty,  as  nature  abhors  a  vacuum;  and," 
"it  is  not  within  the  power  of  man 
fixed  conclusion  from  that  Message, 
try  was  agitated,  when  opinions  are 
when  we  are  drifting   beyond   the 
return,"  he  said,  "this  is  not  what 
right  to  expect  from  a  Chief  Magis- 
or  the  other  he  ought  to  have  taken 
of  a  Federalist,  that  every  State  is 
the   Federal 
and       he       was 
its  authority;  or 
Democrat,  which 
C  o  n  s  t  i  tution 
e'rnment    to 
have       brought 
another,        and, 
safer  than  it  is." 
said    that   if   he 
secession,  it  was 
Union;    that    is 
secede.     The 
He    goes    on    to 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS,  C.  S.  A. 


GENERAL  WILCOX,  C.  S.  A. 


understood  the  meaning  of  the  Message  on  the  subject  of 
this: — "South  Carolina  has  just  cause  for  seceding  from  the 
the  first  proposition.  The  second  is,  that  she  has  no  right  to 
third  is,  that  we  have  no  right  to  prevent  her  from  seceding, 
represent  this  as  a  great  and  powerful  country,  and  that  no  State  has  a  right  to  secede  from  it;  but  the 
power  of  the. country,  if  I  understand  the  President,  consists  in  what  Dickens  makes  the  English  constitu 
tion  to  be — a  power  to  do  anything  at  all.  Now  I  think  it  was  incumbent  on  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  point  out  definitely  and  to  recommend  to  Congress  some  rule  of  action,  and  to  tell  us  what  he 
recommended  us  to  do.  But,  in  my  judgment,  he  has  entirely  avoided  it.  He  has  failed  to  look  the  thing 
in  the  face.  He  has  acted  like  the  ostrich,  which  hides  her  head,  and  thereby  thinks  to  escape  danger." 
So  thought  the  people,  who  perceived  that  no  reliance  could  be  placed  upon  the  arm  of  the  Executive 
in  defending  the  integrity  of  the  Union.  Had  they  then  comprehended  the  fearful  proportions  of  the 
imminent  danger,  they  would  have  almost  despaired.  Patriotic  men  wrote  to  their  representatives  in 
Congress,  asking  them  to  be  firm,  yet  conciliatory;  and  clergymen  of  every  sect  exhorted  their  people  to 
be  "firm  in  faith,  patient  in  hope,  careful  in  conduct  and  trustful  in  God."  More  than  forty  of  the  leading 
clergymen  ,of  various  denominations  in  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  united  in  sending  forth 
a  Circular  Letter  on  New  Year's  day,  1861,  making  an  appeal  to  the  Churches.  "We  cannot  doubt," 
they  said,  "that  a  spirit  of  candor  and  forbearance,  such  as  our  religion  prompts,  and  the  exigencies  of  the 
times  demand,  would  render  the  speedy  adjustment  of  our  difficulties  possible,  consistently  with  every 
Constitutional  right.  Unswerving  fealty  to  the  Constitution  justly  interpreted,  and  a  prompt  return  to 
its  spirit  and  requirements  whenever  these  may  have  been  divergent  from  either,  would  seem  to  be  the 
first  duty  of  citizens  and  legislators.  It  is  our  firm,  and,  we  think,  intelligent  conviction,  that  only  a  very 
inconsiderable  fraction  of  the  people  of  the  North  will  hesitate  in  the  discharge  of  their  Constitutional 
obligations;  and  that  whatever  enactments  are  found  to  be  in  conflict  therewith,  will  be  annulled."  This 
well-meant  missive  operated  only  as  the  mildest  soothing-syrup ;  the  disease  was  too  malignant  and  wide 
spread  to  be  touched  by  anything  but  the  probe  and  cautery. 


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75 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS'  HOUSE  IN  RICHMOND 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS*  HOUSE  AT  DAVIS  RUN,  MISSISSIPPI 


76 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


While  the  National  Legislature  were  tossing  upon  the  suddenly  raised  surges  of  disunion,  and  the 
people  of  the  free-labor  States  were  listening  with  breathless  anxiety  to  the  roar  of  the  tempest  at  the 
Capitol,  the  noise  of  the  storm  in  the  far  South  was  like  the  portentous  bellowing  of  distant  thunder.  It 
was  raging  vehemently  in  South  Carolina.  The  Convention  at  Charleston,  after  passing  the  Ordinance 
of  Secession,  appointed  commissioners  to  proceed  to  Washington  to  treat  for  the  possession  of  public 
property  within  the  limits  of  South  Carolina.  They  also  issued  an  Address  to  the  people  of  the  other 
slave-labor  States,  and  a  Declaration  of  the  causes  which  impelled  South  Carolina  to  leave  the  Union.  In 


JE  HORSE  ARTILLERY 


the  forrr_3r,  they  said:  "South  Carolina  desires  no  destiny  separate  from  yours.  To  be  one  of  a  great 
slave-holding  Confederacy,  stretching  its  arms  over  territory  larger  than  any  power  in  Europe  possesses, 
with  a  population  four  times  greater  than  that  of  the  whole  United  States  when  they  achieved  their  inde 
pendence  of  the  British  empire ;  with  productions  which  make  our  existence  more  important  to  the  world 
than  that  of  any  other  people  inhabiting  it ;  with  common  institutions  to  defend  and  common  dangers  to 

encounter,  we  ask  your  sympathy  and  confederation All  we  demand  of  other  people,  is  to 

be  let  alone  to  work  out  our  own  high  destinies United,  we  must  be  a  great,  free  and 

prosperous  people,  whose  renown  must  spread  throughout  the  civilized  world,  and  pass  down,  we  trust, 
to  the  remotest  ages.  We  ask  you  to  join  in  forming  a  Confederacy  of  Slave-holding  States."  In  their 
declaration  of  causes  for  the  separation,  they  failed  to  point  out  a  single  act  of  wrong  on  the  part  of  the 
Government  they  were  intending  to  destroy,  and  it  consisted  chiefly  of  complaints  that  the  Northern 
people  did  not  look  upon  slavery  with  favor;  were  opposed  to  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law,  and  did  not  believe 
a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  was  superior  in  authority  to  the  Divine  Law. 

On  the  day  when  that  Declaration  was  adopted,  the  governor  of  South  Carolina  (Pickens)  issued  a 
proclamation  declaring  the  sovereignty,  freedom  and  independence  of  that  State,  and  that  it  was  vested 
with  national  functions.  The  proclamation  closed  with  the  words — "Given  under  my  hand,  the  24th  of 
December,  1860,  and  in  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  the  sovereignty  and  independence  of  South  Carolina." 
Then,  with  perfect  consistency,  the  Charleston  newspapers  published  intelligence  from  the  other  States 
of  the  Union,  under  the  head  of  ' '  Foreign  News. ' '  A  small  medal  was  struck  to  commemorate  the  secession 
of  the  State,  and  a  banner  for  the  new  empire  was  adopted,  composed  of  red  silk,  bearing  a  blue  silk  cross 
with  fifteen  white  stars,  the  number  of  the  slave-labor  States.  The  Convention  appointed  one  commis 
sioner  to  each  of  the  States  to  invite  the  politicians  to  send  delegates  to  meet  those  of  South  Carolina  at 
Montgomery,  Alabama,  to  form  a  Southern  Confederacy;  authorized  Governor  Pickens,  as  chief  magistrate 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


77 


78 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


of  the  new  nation,  to  receive  ambassadors,  consuls,  etc.,  from  foreign  countries,  and  took  other  measures 
for  organizing  a  national  government.  The  governor  chose  cabinet  ministers,  and  the  South  Carolina 
nation  began  its  brief  career. 

"A  nationality!"  exclaimed  the  London  Morning  Star,  when  commenting  upon  this  Declaration  of 
the  sovereignty  of  South  Carolina.  "Was  there  ever,  since  the  world  began,  a  nation  constituted  of  such 
materials — a  commonwealth  founded  on  such  a  basis?  The  greatest  empire  of  antiquity  is  said  to  have 
grown  up  from  a  group  of  huts,  built  in  a  convenient  location  by  fugitive  slaves  and  robber  huntsmen. 
But  history  nowhere  chronicles  the  establishment  of  a  community  of  slaveholders  solely  upon  the  alleged 


AN  AMBULANCE  TRAIN 

right  of  maintaining  and  enlarging  their  property  in  man.  Paganism  at  least  protected  the  Old  World 
from  so  monstrous  a  scandal  upon  free  commonwealths,  by  shutting  out  the  idea  of  a  common  humanity 
and  of  individual  rights  derivable  from  inalienable  duties." 

Charleston  harbor  now  became  the  theatre  of  stirring  events.  John  B.  Floyd  of  Virginia,  one  of  the 
leading  conspirators,  was  then  Secretary  of  War,  and  was  secretly  weakening  the  physical  power  of  the 
Government  by  stripping  the  arsenals  of  the  North  of  their  arms  and  ammunition,  and  strengthening  the 
Secessionists  by  filling  the  arsenals  of  the  South  with  an  abundance  of  weapons.  Of  course  he  paid  no 
attention  to  the  words  of  General  Winfield  Scott,  the  chief  of  the  army,  when,  so  early  as  the  close  of 
October,  he  observed  signs  of  incipient  insurrection  in  South  Carolina,  and  recommended  the  strengthening 
of  the  forts  near  Charleston.  And  when,  at  the  close  of  the  same  month,  Colonel  Gardiner,  in  command 
of  the  fortifications  near  that  city,  attempted  to  increase  his  supply  of  ammunition,  Floyd  removed  him, 
and  in  November  placed  Major  Robert  Anderson,  a  meritorious  officer  in  the  war  with  Mexico,  in  his  place. 
That  loyal  Kentuckian  at  once  perceived  by  various  acts,  the  designs  of  the  Secessionists  to  seize  the 
fortifications  in  the  harbor,  and  he  urged  his  Government  to  strengthen  them  with  men  and  munitions 
of  war,  especially  Fort  Moultrie,  in  which  he  was  placed  with  a  feeble  garrison.  But  his  constant  warnings 
were  unheeded,  even  when  he  wrote:  "The  clouds  are  threatening,  and  the  storm  may  burst  at  any  moment. 
I  need  not  say  to  you  how  anxious  I  am,  indeed  determined,  as  far  as  honor  will  permit,  to  avoid  collision 
with  the  people  of  South  Carolina.  Nothing  will,  however,  be  better  calculated  to  prevent  bloodshed, 
than  our  being  found  in  such  an  attitude  that  it  would  be  madness  and  folly  to  attack  us."  He  continually 
begged  the  War  Department  to  give  him  more  strength,  and  send  him  explicit  instructions;  and  when  he 
found  his  warnings  treated  with  contemptuous  silence,  he  wrote :  ' '  Unless  otherwise  directed,  I  shall  make 
future  communications  through  the  regular  channel — the  General-in-Chief." 

Anderson  did  not  know  that  he  was  addressing  an  enemy  and  not  a  protector  of  his  Government, 
who  was  working  with  all  his  might  to  destroy  the  Republic.  On  the  very  day  when  the  patriotic  Major 
wrote  to  Floyd,  the  treacherous  Secretary  sold  ten  thousand  Government  muskets  to  an  agent  of  the 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


79 


HEADQUARTERS  Co.  F,  IITH  RHODE  ISLAND  VOLUNTEERS,  MINERS  HILL,  VIRGINIA 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  6isx  NEW  YORK  INFANTRY 


80 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


Secessionists  of  Georgia.  Eight  days  before  he  had  sold  five  thousand  to  the  State  of  Virginia;  and  vast 
numbers  were  sent  to  other  slave-labor  States.  The  Mobile  Advertiser,  the  organ  of  the  Secessionists  in 
Alabama,  exultingly  declared  that  within  twelve  months  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand  muskets 
had  been  quietly  transferred  from  the  Northern  Arsenal  at  Springfield  (Mass.)  alone,  to  those  in  the 
Southern  States.  "We  are  much  obliged  to  Mr.  Floyd,"  said  the  Advertiser,  "for  the  foresight  he  has 
thus  displayed  in  disarming  the  North  and  equipping  the  South  for  this  emergency.  There  is  no  telling 
the  quantity  of  arms  and  munitions  which  were  sent  South  from  other  arsenals.  There  is  no  doubt  but 
that  every  man  in  the  South  who  can  carry  a  gun  can  now  be  supplied  from  private  or  public  sources."  Floyd 

also  attempted  to 
supply  the  Secession 
ists  writh  heavy  guns, 
but  loyal  men  pre 
vented  the  outrage. 

Secretary  Floyd 
found  Anderson  too 
loyal  for  his  purpose, 
but  it  was  too  late  to 
displace  him,  so  he 
left  him  to  his  own 
feeble  resources,  sat 
isfied  that  the  mili 
tary  companies  then 
in  process  of  organi 
zation  in  South  Caro 
lina,  would  be  able 
to  seize  the  forts  in 
Charleston  harbor  in 
good  time.  Moultrie 
was  weak,  and  many 
of  the  little  garrison 
in  Sumter  were 
known  to  be  disloyal. 
The  latter  fort  was 
by  far  the  stronger 
and  more  important 
work ;  and  as  evidence 
hourly  increased, 

especially  after  the  passage  of  the  Ordinance  of  Secession,  that  the  South  Carolinians  intended  to  seize 
Fort  Sumter,  Anderson,  being  commander  of  all  the  forts  in  the  harbor,  resolved  to  transfer  the  garrison 
in  Fort  Moultrie  into  that  of  Sumter,  and  abandon  the  former.  It  was  a  delicate  undertaking,  for  the 
Secessionists  had  watchboats  out  upon  the  waters. 

Anderson  revealed  his  secret  to  only  three  or  four  of  his  most  trusted  officers.  Then  he  resorted  to 
stratagem  to  get  the  women  and  children  first  into  Fort  Sumter.  They  were  taken  in  a  vessel,  with  ample 
provisions,  to  Fort  Johnson  on  James  Island,  where,  under  pretext  of  difficulty  in  finding  quarters  for  them, 
they  were  detained  on  board  until  evening.  Three  guns  fired  at  Fort  Moultrie  was  to  be  the  signal  for 
consigning  them  immediately  to  F6"rt  Sumter.  The  movement  was  regarded  by  the  people  of  Charleston 
as  a  natural  and  prudent  measure  of  Anderson,  who,  they  knew,  believed  they  were  about  to  attack  Fort 
Moultrie,  and  so  all  suspicion  was  allayed. 

At  the  close  of  that  evening,  while  the  almost  full-orbed  moon  was  shining  brightly,  the  greater  portion 
of  the  little  garrison  at  Moultrie  embarked  for  Sumter.  The  three  guns  were  fired ;  the  women  and  children 
were  quickly  taken  from  before  Fort  Johnson  to  Sumter,  and  the  movement  was  successful.  Two  or  three 
officers  remained  at  Fort  Moultrie  to  spike  the  cannon,  to  destroy  the  gun-carriages,  and  to  cut  down  the 
flag-staff,  that  no  secession  banner  might  float  from  the  peak  from  which  the  National  flag  had  so  long 
fluttered.  When  the  soldiers  and  their  families  and  many  weeks'  provision  were  safely  within  the  granite 
walls  of  Fort  Sumter,  Major  Anderson  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War — "I  have  the  honor  to  report  that 
I  have  just  completed,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  the  removal  to  this  fort,  of  all  my  garrison  except  the  surgeon, 
four  North  Carolina  officers  and  seven  men." 


VIEWS  AT  BEAUFORT,  S.  C.,  AND  HILTON  HEAD 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


81 


VIEWS  ON  THE  POTOMAC  RIVER 


82 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


The  telegraph  conveyed  from  the  Secessionists  to  Floyd  the  astounding  intelligence  long  before 
Anderson's  despatch  reached  him.  It  flashed  back  the  angry  words  of  the  dismayed  and  foiled  conspirator: 
"Intelligence  has  reached  here  this  morning  [December  27]  that  you  have  abandoned  Fort  Moultrie, 
spiked  your  guns,  burnt  the  carriages  and  gone  to  Fort  Sumter.  It  is  not  believed,  because  there  is  no 
order  for  any  such  movement.  Explain  the  meaning  of  this  report."  Anderson  calmly  replied  by  tele 
graph:  "The  telegram  is  correct.  I  abandoned  Fort  Moultrie  because  I  was  certain  that  if  attacked  my 

men  must  have  been  sacrificed,  and  the 
command  of  the  harbor  lost.  I  spiked  the 
guns  and  destroyed  the  carriages  to  keep 
the  guns  from  being  turned  against  us.  If 
attacked,  the  garrison  would  never  have 
surrendered  without  a  fight." 

The  soldiers  in  Sumter  wished  to  fling 
out  the  National  ensign  defiantly  before 
the  dawn  next  morning;  but  Anderson, 
who  was  a  devout  man,  washing  to  impress 
upon  his  followers  the  lesson  that  upon 
God  alone  they  were  to  rely  in  the  great 
trial  that  was  evidently  before  them,  would 
not  consent  to  the  act  until  the  return  of 
the  absent  chaplain.  He  came  at  noonday, 
when  the  whole  company  in  the  fort  gath 
ered  around  the  flagstaff,  not  far  from  a 
huge  cannon.  The  commander,  with  the 
halyards  in  his  hand,  knelt  at  the  foot  of  the 
staff,  when  the  chaplain  earnestly  invoked  the  sustaining  power  of  the  Almighty.  A  loud  Amen !  fell  from 
the  lips  of  many;  and  then  the  brave  Major  hoisted  the  flag  to  the  top  of  the  staff.  It  was  greeted  with 
hearty  cheers,  and  the  band  saluted  it  with  the  air  of  "Hail  Columbia." 

A  boat  now  approached  the  fort  from  Charleston.  It  conveyed  a  messenger  who  bore  to  Major 
Anderson  a  demand  from  Governor  Pickens,  that  the  former  should  immediately  leave  Fort  Sumter,  and 
return  to  Fort  Moultrie.  The  demand  was  courteously  refused ;  and  Anderson  was  denounced  as  a  '  'traitor 
to  the  South,"  he  being  a  native  of  Kentucky,  a  slave-labor  State.  The  conspirators  in  Charleston  and 
Washington  were  enraged.  At  the  very  moment  when  the  flag  was  flung  to  the  breeze  over  Sumter, 
Secretary  Floyd,  in  cabinet  meeting,  was  demanding  of  the  President  permission  to  withdraw  Anderson 
from  Charleston  harbor.  The  President  refused.  A  storm  suddenly  arose  which  produced  a  disruption 
in  the  cabinet,  and  Floyd  was  succeeded  by  Joseph  Holt,  a  loyal  Kentuckian,  who  wrote  to  Major  Anderson 
that  his  movement  in  transferring  the  garrison  from  Moultrie  to  Sumter,  "was  in  every  way  admirable, 
alike  for  its  humanity  and  patriotism  as  for  its  soldiership."  Words  of  cheer  came  for  the  Major  from 
other  quarters.  The  Legislature  of  Nebraska,  sitting  two  thousand  miles  away  from  Fort  Sumter,  tele 
graphed  to  him  "A  Happy  New  Year; "  and  cannon  were  fired  in  several  places  in  honor  of  the  event. 


PONTOON  BRIDGE  AND  RUINS  OF  STONE  BRIDGE  ACROSS  THE  POTOMAC 
AT  BERLIN,  OCTOBER,  1862 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Heroism  of  Major  Anderson — His  Wife  and  Peter  Hart — Robbery  in  the  Interior  Department — Flight  of  Secretary  Floyd — Cabinet 
Changes — South  Carolina  Commissioners  in  Washington — Attempt  to  Reinforce  and  Supply  Fort  Sumter — Inauguration  of  Civil 
War  at  Charleston — Language  of  the  Politicians — The  People  Bewildered — Fate  of  Leaders — "Secession"  in  Other  States — Seizure 
of  Public  Property — Northern  Sympathizers — Plan  of  the  Secessionists — Dix's  Order — Action  in  the  Border  States— Concessions — 
Peace  Convention — Adams's  Proposition — Convention  at  Montgomery — Establishment  of  a  Southern  Confederate  Government. 

MAJOR  ANDERSON  and  his  little  band  of  soldiers  were  in  extreme  peril  from  the  hour  when  they 
entered  Fort  Sumter.     His  friends  knew  that  he  was  exposed  to  treachery  within  and  fierce  assault 
from  without,  and  were  very  anxious.     His  devoted  wife,  daughter  of  General  Clinch  of  Georgia, 
was  an  invalid  in  New  York.     She  resolved  to  go  to  her  husband  with  a  faithful  servant  whom  he  might 
trust  if  she  could  find  him.     It  was  Peter  Hart,  who  had  been  a  sergeant  with  Anderson  in  Mexico,  and 
was  warmly  attached  to  his  person.     After  much  search  Mrs.  Anderson  found  he  was  attached  to  the  police 
force  in  New  York,  and  she  sent  for  him.     He  came,  accompanied  by  his  wife.     "I  have  sent  for  you," 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


83 


FORREST  HALL  PRISON,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


84 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


said  Mrs.  Anderson,  "to  ask  you  to  do  me  a  favor."  "Anything  Mrs.  Anderson  wishes,  I  will  do,"  was 
Hart's  prompt  reply.  "But  it  may  be  more  than  you  imagine,"  Mrs.  Anderson  said.  Hart  again  replied, 
"Anything  Mrs.  Anderson  wishes."  "I  want  you  to  go  with  me  to  Fort  Sumter,"  she  said.  Hart  looked 
at  his  wife  a  moment,  and  then  promptly  responded,  "I  will  go,  madame."  Then  the  earnest  woman  said, 
"But,  Hart,  I  want  you  to  stay  with  the  major.  You  will  leave  your  family,  and  give  up  a  good  situation." 
Again  Hart  glanced  inquiringly  toward  his  wife,  and  perceiving  consent  in  her  expression,  he  quickly 
replied,  "I  will  go,  madame."  "But,  Margaret,"  said  Mrs.  Anderson,  turning  to  Hart's  wife,  "what  do 
you  say?"  "Indade,  ma'am,  and  its  Margaret's  sorry  she  can't  do  as  much  for  you  as  Pater  can,"  was 
the  reply  of  the  warm-hearted  woman. 

Twenty-four  hours  after  this  interview,  Mrs.  Anderson,  contrary  to 


started  by  railway  for 
Peter  Hart  in  the  capacity 
day  night  until  Sunday 
at  Fort  Sumter,  she  neither 
the  cars  in  southern  Virginia 
her  ears  were  frequently  as- 
band  and  threats  of  violence 
whom  the  delicate,  pale- 
the  man  they  hated,  was  a 
morning,  after  some  diffi- 
mission  to  visit  Fort  Sumter 
little  boat  touched  the 
the  sallyport,  and  the  name 
nounced  to  the  sentry,  the 
presence,  rushed  out,  and 
the  exclamation,  in  a  vehe- 
her  ear  only,  "My  glorious 
you  Peter  Hart,"  she  said, 
return  to-night."  She  then 
and  after  resting  a  few 


CITY  OF  CHARLESTON  FROM  TOP  OF  ORPHAN  ASYLUM 


the  advice  of  her  physician, 
Charleston,  accompanied  by 
of  a  servant.  From  Thurs- 
morning,  when  she  arrived 
ate,  drank,  nor  slept.  In 
and  through  the  Carolinas, 
sailed  by  curses  of  her  hus- 
against  him,  by  men  to 
faced  woman,  the  wife  of 
stranger.  On  Sunday 
culty,  she  procured  per- 
with  Peter  Hart.  As  the 
wharf  of  the  fortress  near 
of  Mrs.  Anderson  was  an- 
major,  informed  of  her 
clasped  her  in  his  arms  with 
ment  whisper  intended  for 
wife!"  "I  have  brought 
"The  children  are  well;  I 
partook  of  refreshments, 
hours,  she  was  on  her  way 
she  was  threatened  with 


back  to  New  York,  where 
brain  fever  a  long  time.  She  had  given  ner  husband  the  most  faithful  friend  and  assistant,  under  all 
circumstances,  in  the  fort,  during  the  three  months  of  severe  trial  that  ensued.  She  had  done  what  the 
Government  would  not  or  dared  not  do — not  sent  but  took  a  most  valuable  reinforcement  to  Fort  Sumter. 

While  excitement  was  vehement  in  Washington  because  of  events  in  Charleston  harbor,  it  was  inten 
sified  by  a  new  development  of  bad  faith  or  crime  in  the  Department  of  the  Interior,  of  which  Jacob 
Thompson,  of  Mississippi,  was  chief.  The  safe  of  the  Department  was  rifled  of  bonds  to  the  amount  of 
$800,000,  which  composed  the  Indian  Trust  Fund.  The  wildest  rumors  prevailed  as  to  the  amount 
abstracted,  making  it  millions.  It  was  known  that  Cobb  had  impoverished  the  Treasury,  and  the  public 
was  inclined  to  believe  that  plunder  was  a  part  of  the  business  of  the  cabinet,  for  Secretary  Floyd  was 
deeply  implicated  in  the  Bond  robbery.  The  public  held  Floyd  and  Thompson  responsible  for  the  crime. 
The  grand  jury  of  Washington  city  indicted  Floyd  for  "malfeasance  in  office,  complicity  in  the  abstraction 
of  the  Indian  Trust  Fund,  and  conspiracy  against  the  Government;  and  a  committee  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  mildly  reported  that  Floyd's  conduct  was  irreconcilable  with  purity  of  motives,  and 
faithfulness  to  public  trusts."  But  before  the  action  of  the  grand  jury  and  the  report  of  the  committee 
were  known,  the  offending  Secretary  of  War  had  fled  to  Virginia,  where  he  was  received  with  open  arms 
by  the  Secessionists,  and  made  a  military  leader  with  the  commission  of  brigadier-general.  His  place  in 
the  cabinet  was  filled,  as  we  have  observed,  by  Joseph  Holt,  a  loyal  Kentuckian. 

General  Cass,  the  Secretary  of  State,  had  resigned,  and  Mr.  Black,  the  Attorney-General,  took  his 
place,  when  the  last-named  office  was  filled  by  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  afterward  the  efficient  Secretary  of  War. 
John  A.  Dix,  a  staunch  patriot  of  New  York,  was  called  to  the  head  of  the  Treasury  Department,  and 
Secretary  Thompson  left  the  Department  of  the  Interior  and  returned  to  Mississippi  to  help  his  fellow 
Secessionists  make  war  on  the  Republic.  These  changes  in  the  cabinet  caused  the  loyal  people  of  the 
country  to  breathe  freer  and  indulge  in  hope. 

At  the  same  time  there  was  another  cause  for  excitement  in  the  National  capital.  R.  W.  Barnwell, 
James  H.  Adams  and  James  L.  Orr,  appointed  commissioners  by  the  Convention  of  South  Carolina  to 
treat  for  the  disposition  of  the  property  of  the  National  Government  within  the  borders  of  that  State, 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


85 


c 
fa 
H 


z 

n 

o 
r 

Z 


O 


86 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


communication  was 
these  words:  "This 
dent,  is  of  such  a 
it."  Thus  ended 
between  the  Presi- 
bassadors  from  a 
placed  in  an  attitude 
Government.  These 
' '  ministerial  resi- 
turned  home  to  en- 
with  all  their  might, 


AT  FORTRESS  MONROE 


arrived  at  Washington,  took  a  house  for  the  transaction 
of  diplomatic  business,  and  made  Wm.  H.  Trescott 
their  Secretary.  With  the  formality  of  foreign  minis 
ters,  they  announced  their  presence  to  the  President  of 
the  Republic,  and  set  forth  the  objects  of  their  mission 
in  haughty  language,  and  prepared  for  a  long  line  of 
negotiations.  The  business  was  cut  short  by  the  refusal 
of  the  President  to  receive  them  in  any  other  capacity 
than  as  private  gentlemen.  Their  demands  had  been 
uttered  in  a  manner  so  insulting,  that  the  President  was 
justly  indignant,  and  wrote  them  a 
letter,  courteous  in  tone  but  severe 
in  its  facts,  which  called  from  them 
a  most  insolent  rejoinder.  This 


returned  to  them,  indorsed  with 
paper,  just  presented  to  the  Presi- 
character  that  he  declines  to  receive 
the  ' '  diplomatic  correspondence ' ' 
dent  of  the  Republic  and  the  em- 
State  which  its  politicians  had 
of  rebellion  against  the  National 
embassadors,  after  occupying  their 
dence"  ten  days,  left  it  and  re- 
gage  in  the  work  of  the  Secessionists 
excepting  Mr.  Orr. 


HAM  P  TO  N 


FT  M  OH  HOE   $£} 'l 


With  more  loyal  elements  composing  his  cabinet,  President  Buchanan  now  seemed  to  act  more 
decidedly  in  support  of  the  National  authority;  and  listening  to  the  counsels  of  Generals  Dix  and  Scott, 
and  other  patriotic  men,  he  determined  to  send 
reinforcements  and  supplies  to  Fort  Sumter.  The 
Star  of  the  West,  a  merchant  steamship,  was  em 
ployed  for  the  purpose;  and,  in  order  to  mislead 
spies  in  New  York,  she  was  cleared  from  that  port 
for  Savannah  and  New  Orleans.  But  the  secret 
of  her  destination,  revealed  to  Secretary  Thompson 
while  he  was  writing  his  resignation,  was  tele 
graphed  by  him  to  Charleston;  and  when,  on  the 
morning  of  the  gth  of  January,  1861,  she  entered 
that  harbor  with  the  National  flag  flying,  she  was 
fired  upon  from  redoubts  which  the  Secessionists, 
now  become  insurgents,  had  erected  on  the  shores. 
Her  commander  displayed  a  large  American  ensign, 
but  the  assailants  had  no  respect  for  the  insignia  of 
the  Union;  and  after  receiving  seventeen  shots, 
chiefly  in  her  rigging,  and  being  unarmed  with 
artillery,  the  Star  oj  the  West  turned  about,  put  to 
sea,  and  returned  to  New  York.  This  movement 
had  been  watched  by  the  garrison  at  Fort  Sumter, 
with  eager  curiosity  at  first,  until  it  was  evident 
that  the  steamship  was  in  the  Government  employ 
bringing  relief  to  the  fort,  when  the  guns  of  the 
fortress,  all  shotted,  were  brought  to  bear  on  the 
batteries  of  the  insurgents.  Anderson  was  not 
aware  of  the  changed  condition  of  affairs  at  Wash 
ington,  and,  restrained  by  positive  orders  not  to 
act  until  attacked,  he  withheld  fire.  Had  he 
known  that  his  act  would  have  been  approved  by  HAMPTON  ROADS 


Lasnbrrt  T> 

_^"W  >»>*"':• 

-^/\\:^S 


iFonNorfollc 


PORTGKOUfH 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


87 


o 


w 

J= 

5 
o 

B 
W 


H 

tr 


H 

w 

o 

en 

H 


W 


w 
PI 


88 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


his  Government,  he  would  have  silenced  the  hostile  batteries  and  received  the  soldiers  and  supplies  on 
board  the  Star  of  the  West  into  Fort  Sumter.  This  overt  act  of  the  insurgents  was  the  beginning  of  the 
terrible  Civil  War  that  followed. 

The  South  Carolinians  struck  the  first  blow  (which  rebounded  so  fearfully),  and  gloried  in  it.  The 
commander  of  the  battery  on  Morris  Island  (Major  Stevens)  that  caused  the  Star  of  the  West  to  put  to 
sea,  loudly  boasted  of  his  feat  in  humbling  the  flag  of  his  country.  The  Legislature  of  the  State  resolved 
that  they  had  learned  "with  pride  and  pleasure  of  the  successful  resistance  of  the  troops  of  the  State, 
acting  under  orders  of  the  governor,  to  an  attempt  to  reinforce  Fort  Sumter.  The  Charleston  Mercury 
exclaimed:  "Yesterday,  the  gth  of  January,  will  be  remembered  in  history.  Powder  has  been  burnt  over 
the  decree  of  our  State,  timber  has  been  crashed,  perhaps  blood  spilled. 

"The  expulsion  of  the  Star  of  the  West  from  Charleston  harbor  yes 
terday   morning  was    the   opening  of   the    ball  of  revolution.        We 

are  proud  that  our  har 
bor  has  been  so  honored. 
We  are  more  proud  that  the 
State  of  South  Carolina,  so 
long,  so  bitterly,  so  contemp 
tuously  reviled  and  scoffed 
at,  above  all  others,  should 
thus  proudly  have  thrown 
back  the  scoff  of  her  enemies. 
Intrenched  upon  her  soil,  she 
has  spoken  from  the  mouth 
of  her  cannon  and  not  from 
the  mouths  of  scurrilous 
demagogues,  fanatics  and 
'  scribblers.  Contemned,  the 
sanctity  of  her  waters  vio- 
•  lated  witn  hostile  purpose  of 
reinforcing  enemies  in  our 
harbor,  she  has  not  hesitated 
to  strike  the  first  blow  full  in 
the  face  of  her  insulters.  Let 
the  United  States  Govern- 


PORT  ROYAL,  SOUTH  CAROLINA 


ment  bear,  or  return  it  at  its  good  will,  the  blow  still  tingling  about  its  ears — the  fruit  of  its  own  bandit 
temerity.  We  would  not  exchange  or  recall  that  blow  for  millions !  It  has  wiped  out  half  a  century  of 
scorn  and  outrage.  Again  South  Carolina  may  be  proud  of  her  historic  fame  and  ancestry,  without  a 
blush  upon  her  cheek  for  her  own  present  honor.  The  haughty  echo  of  her  cannon  has  ere  this  reverberated 
from  Maine  to  Texas,  through  every  hamlet  of  the  North,  and  down  along  the  great  waters  of  the  southwest. 
The  decree  has  gone  forth.  Upon  each  acre  of  the  peaceful  soil  of  the  South,  armed  men  will  spring  up 
as  the  sound  breaks  upon  their  ears;  and  it  will  be  found  that  every  word  of  our  insolent  foe  has  been, 
indeed,  a  dragon's  tooth  sown  for  their  destruction.  And  though  grizzly  and  traitorous  ruffians  may  cry 
on  the  dogs  of  war,  and  treacherous  politicians  may  lend  their  aid  in  deceptions,  South  Carolina  will 
stand  under  her  own  palmetto-tree,  unterrified  by  the  snarling  growls  or  assaults  of  the  one,  undeceived 
or  deterred  by  the  wily  machinations  of  the  other.  And  if  that  red  seal  of  blood  be  still  lacking  to  the 
parchment  of  our  liberties,  and  blood  they  want — blood  they  shall  have — and  blood  enough  to  stamp  it 
all  in  red.  .For,  by  the  God  of  our  fathers,  the  soil  of  South  Carolina  shall  be  free!" 

Such  was  the  language  of  the  Declaration  of  War  against  the  Union  by  the  politicians  of  South  Caro 
lina — arrogant,  boastful,  savage.  Unmindful  of  the  wisdom  of  the  injunction  of  the  king  of  Israel,  ' '  Let 
not  him  that  girdeth  on  his  harness  boast  himself  as  he  that  putteth  it  off,"  they  proceeded  in  hot  haste, 
in  the  spirit  of  their  Declaration,  to  inaugurate  Civil  War,  and  to  drag  the  peaceful  inhabitants  of  the  other 
slave-labor  States  into  its  horrid  vortex.  The  people,  whose  rights  they  had  violated  and  whose  sover 
eignty  they  had  usurped,  were  stunned  and  bewildered  by  the  violence  of  these  self-constituted  leaders, 
and  they  found  themselves  and  their  millions  of  property  at  the  mercy  of  madmen  who,  as  the  sequel 
proved,  were  totally  unfit  to  lead  in  the  councils  of  a  free,  intelligent  and  patriotic  community.  Four 
years  after  the  war  so  boastfully  begun  by  these  political  leaders  in  South  Carolina,  Charleston  was  a 
ghastly  ruin,  in  which  not  one  of  these  men  remained ;  Columbia,  the  capital  of  the  State,  was  laid  in  ashes ; 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    IV A  R 


89 


COMPANY  A  gTH  INDIANA  VOLUNTEERS 


VIEWS  ON  THE  JAMES  RIVER 


90 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  H.  A.  WISE,  C.  S.  A. 


every  slave  within  the  borders  of  the  Republic  was  liberated ;  society  in  the  slave-labor  States  was  wholly 
disorganized;  the  land  was  filled  with  the  mourning  of  the  deceived  and  bereaved  people;  and  a  large 
number  of  those  who  signed  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  and  so  brought  the  curse  of  war's  desolation  upon 
the  innocent  inhabitants  of  most  of  the  Southern  States,  became  fugitives  from  their  homes,  utterly  ruined. 
I  would  gladly  draw  the  veil  of  oblivion  over  the  folly  and  wrong-doing  of  these  few  crazy  leaders,  for  they 
were  citizens  of  our  common  country;  but  justice  to  posterity  requires  that  their  actions  should  be  made 

warning  beacons  to  others  who,  in  like  manner,  contemplate  rebellion 
against  the  divine  law  of  the  Golden  Rule,  and  a  total  disregard  of  the 
rights  of  man. 

The  South  Carolina  politicians  now  made  frantic  appeals  to  those  of 
other  slave-labor  States  to  follow  their  example,  and  bind  the  people 
hand  and  foot  by  ordinances  of  secession.  During  the  first  thirty  days 
of  the  year  1861,  the  politicians  in  six  of  the  other  States  responded  by 
calling  conventions  and  passing  ordinances  of  secession,  in  the  following 
order:  Mississippi,  on  the  gth  of  January;  Florida,  on  the  loth;  Alabama, 
on  the  nth;  Georgia,  on  the  igth;  Louisiana,  on  the  26th  and  Texas  on 
the  first  of  February.  At  the  same  time  the  Secessionists  of  Virginia  were 
anxious  to  enroll  their  State  among  the  seceders;  and  under  the  control 
of  ex-Governor  Henry  A.  Wise,  and  of  others  in  Maryland  under  leaders 
unknown  to  the  public,  large  numbers  of  "Minute-men"  were  organized 
and  drilled  for  the  special  purpose  of  seizing  Washington  city  and  the 
Government  Buildings  and  archives — a  prime  object  of  the  conspirators 
against  the  life  of  the  nation.  Acting  upon  the  suggestions  of  the  poli 
ticians  of  South  Carolina,  those  of  other  States  caused  the  seizure  of  forts, 
arsenals  and  other  property  of  the  United  States  within  the  borders  of 
the  slave-labor  States.  In  Louisiana  the  Arsenal,  Mint,  Custom-house 
and  Post-office,  with  all  their  contents,  were  seized  and  turned  over  to 

the  State  authorities,  while  the  President,  evidently  bound  by  ante-election  pledges,  dared  not  interfere. 
The  insurgents  everywhere  were  encouraged  by  the  leaders  of  the  Administration  party  in  the  North,  by 
language  such  as  was  used  at  a  large  Democratic  meeting  held  in  Philadelphia  on  the  i6th  of  January,  1861, 
when  one  of  the  resolutions  adopted,  echoing  the  sentiments  of  the  decision  of  the  Attorney-General, 
declared :  ' '  We  are  utterly  opposed  to  any  such  compulsion  as  is  demanded  by  a  portion  of  the  Republican 
party;  and  the  Democratic  party  of  the  North  will,  by  all  constitutional  means,  and  with  its  moral  and 
political  influence,  oppose  any  such  extreme  policy,  or  a  fratricidal  war  thus  to  be  inaugurated."  And  a 
Democratic  State  Convention  held  at  the  capital  of  Pennsylvania,  on  the  22d  of  February,  1861,  said  by 
a  resolution:  "We  will,  by  all  proper  and  legitimate  means,  oppose,  discountenance  and  prevent  any 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Republicans  in  power,  to  make  any  armed  aggressions  upon  the  Southern 
States,  especially  so  long  as  laws  [meaning  those  concerning  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act]  contravening  their 
rights  shall  remain  unrepealed  on  the  statute  books  of  Northern  States,  and  so  long  as  the  just  demands 
of  the  South  shall  continue  to  be  unrecognized  by  the  Republican  majorities  in  those  States,  and  unsecured 
by  proper  amendatory  explanations  of  the  Constitution." 

Such  moral  "aid  and  comfort "  everywhere  given  by  Northern  politicians,  made  the  insurgents  believe 
that  there  would  be  such  a  fatally  "divided  North"  that  their  schemes  might  be  consummated  with  ease, 
and  they  did  not  pause  in  their  mad  career.  They  at  once  set  about  executing,  with  boldness  and  energy, 
their  preconcerted  plans  as  set  forth  in  the  following  words  by  one  of  them :  ' '  We  intend  to  take  possession 
of  the  army  and  navy,  and  of  the  archives  of  the  Government ;  not  allow  the  electoral  votes  to  be  counted ; 
proclaim  Buchanan  provisional  president  if  he  will  do  as  we  wish;  if  not,  choose  another;  seize  the  Harper's 
Ferry  Arsenal  and  the  Norfolk  Navy-yard  simultaneously  and  sending  armed  men  down  from  the  former 
and  armed  vessels  up  from  the  latter,  take  possession  of  Washington  city  and  establish  anew  government." 
Many  seizures  were  made ;  and  the  value  of  the  public  property  thus  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  insur 
gents,  before  the  close  of  Buchanan's  administration,  was  estimated  at  $30,000,000. 

A  defiant  spirit  now  prevailed  all  over  the  South.  When  General  Dix,  the  loyal  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  sent  a  special  agent  of  his  department  to  secure  from  seizure  revenue  cutters  at  New  Orleans 
and  Mobile,  with  special  orders  for  their  commanders,  the  captain  (Breshwood)  of  one  of  them  at  the 
former  port,  haughtily  refused  to  obey.  When  the  agent  telegraphed  to  the  Secretary  a  notice  of  this 
disobedience,  the  latter  immediately  sent  his  famous  despatch:  "Tell  Lieutenant  Caldwell  to  arrest  Captain 
Breshwood,  assume  the  command  of  the  cutter,  and  obey  the  order  through  you.  If  Captain  Breshwood, 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


VIEWS  OF  ARTILLERY 


92 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    }]' A  R 


after  arrest,  undertakes  to  interfere  with  the  command  of  the  cutter,  tell  Lieutenant  Caldwcll  to  consider 
him  as  a  mutineer.     Ij  any  one  attempts  to  pull  down  the  American  flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot!" 

This  vigorous  order  was  the  first  sign  given  by  the  Executive  Government  at  Washington  of  a  real 
determination  to  quell  the  rising  insurrection;  and  it  gave  hopes  to  the  friends  of  the  Union  who  had 
observed,  with  great  anxiety,  the  President  of  the  Republic  sitting  with  his  hands  folded  in  passive  acquies 
cence  while  its  enemies  were  preparing  to  destroy  it.  But  the  conspirators  in  New  Orleans,  who  had 
control  of  the  telegraph,  did  not  allow  the  despatch  to  pass.  The  revenue  cutter  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  insurgents;  and  two  days  afterward  the  National  Mint  and  Custom-house  at  New  Orleans,  with  all 


the  coin  and  bullion 
to      $536,000,      were 
and      the      precious 
coffers  of  the  State  of 
While  events  in 
the  month  of  January, 
more    toward   armed 
tional  Government, 
States    became    fully 
danger  to  the  Union, 
also  deeply  agitated, 
flicting      sentiments, 
class  of  Unionists  in 
were    speedily    over- 
of   the   Secessionists ; 
see  and  Missouri  were 
under  the  banner  of 
eracy,  by  their  poli- 
with  Kentucky,  bore 
dreadful  conflict  that  en- 
Maryland     were     in     a 
one  time.     The  patriotic 
the    latter    fast    to    her 
loyal       commonwealths ; 
Magoffin    of    Kentucky, 
politician,  failing  to  drag 
sion,   procured  for  it  an 
"neutrality"     that    was 
habitants  than  a  positive 
or  the  other.     Governors 
Harris  of  Tennessee  and 
with  their  associate  poli- 


CONFEDERATE    DEAD    IN    FRONT    OF    FORT    ROBINETTE,    COKINTH 


they  contained,  amounting 
seized  by  the  Secessionists, 
metals  were  placed  in  the 
Louisiana. 

the  slave-labor   States,   in 
1861, were  tendingmore  and 
rebellion  against  the   Na- 
the  people  of  the  free-labor 
aroused  to  the  impending 
The    Border    States    were 
at  the  same  time,  by  con- 
for  there  was  a  very  large 
each  of  them.     But  these 
borne  by  the  violence 
and  Virginia,  Tennes- 
n  n  a  1 1  y  a  r  r  a  n  ged 
the  Southern  Confed- 
ticians,     and     these, 
the     brunt     of     the 
sued.     Kentucky  and 
doubtful   position   at 
Governor  Hicks  kept 
moorings  among  the 
but     Governor 
who    was    an    adroit 
that  State  into  seces- 
attitude   of   so-called 
far  worse  for  the  in- 
position  on  one  side 
Letchcr    of    Virginia, 
Jackson  of  Missouri, 
ticians,   formally 


committed  their  respective   States   to   the   fortunes  of   the  enemies  of  the   Union. 

Meanwhile  the  loyal  people  of  the  Northern  States  were  holding  public  meetings  and  counteracting, 
as  far  as  they  might,  the  revolutionary  proceedings  of  their  opponents  North  and  South.  They  loved 
peace  and  desired  friendship,  and  were  willing  to  make  almost  any  concessions  to  the  enemies  of  the 
Government  that  did  not  involve  their  honor.  When,  as  the  politicians  in  State  after  State  adopted 
ordinances  of  secession,  and  their  respective  representatives  in  both  Houses  of  Congress  abdicated  their 
seats  and  hurled  defiance  and  threats  in  the  face  of  the  Government  and  its  supporters,  the  latter  patiently 
yielded,  and  showed  a  willingness  to  conciliate  the  arrogant  leaders  of  the  Secessionists.  So  early  as  the 
ayth  of  December,  Charles  Francis  Adams,  a  representative  of  Massachusetts — a  commonwealth  against 
which  the  fiercest  maledictions  of  the  slave-holders  had  been  hurled  for  years — offered  a  resolution  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  "That  it  is  expedient  to  propose  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  to  the 
effect  that  no  future  amendments  of  it  in  regard  to  slavery  shall  be  made  unless  proposed  by  a  slave  State, 
and  ratified  by  all  the  States."  And  so  eager  were  the  loyal  men  for  reconciliation,  that  when  the  authori 
ties  of  Virginia  proposed  a  General  Convention  at  the  National  capital  (which  was  called  a  Peace  Con 
ference),  they  readily  agreed  to  the  measure  and  appointed  delegates  to  it,  albeit  many  wise  men  doubted 
the  sincerity  of  the  proposers  and  regarded  it  as  a  plan  to  gain  time  for  the  perfecting  of  plans  for  seizing 
Washington  city. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


93 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


The  Peace  Conference  assembled  at  the  National  capital  on  the  4th  of  February,   1861,  in  which 
delegates  from  twenty-one  States  appeared.     Ex-President  John  Tyler  of  Virginia  was  appointed  chairman 

of  the  Convention.  "Your  patriotism,"  he  said,  in  taking 
the  chair,  "will  surmount  the  difficulties,  however  great, 
if  you  will  but  accomplish  one  triumph  in  advance,  and  that 
is  triumph  over  party.  And  what  is  party,  when  com 
pared  to  the  work  of  rescuing  one's  country  from  danger? 
The  Convention  heartily  reciprocated  these  patriotic 
words.  Efforts  were  made  in  the  Convention  to  have  an 
amendment  to  the  National  Constitution  adopted,  that 
would  nationalize  slavery.  It  failed,  and  a  compromise  was 
effected  by  adopting  an  article  that  should  preserve  slavery. 
With  this  compromise,  Mr.  Tyler  and  his  Virginia  friends 
professed  to  be  satisfied.  "I  cannot  but  hope,"  he  said, 
in  his  closing  speech  before  the  Convention,  "that  the 
blessing  of  God  will  follow  and  rest  upon  the  result  of  your 
labors,  and  that  such  result  will  bring  to  our  country  that 
quiet  and  peace  which  every  patriotic  heart  so  earnestly 

desires It   is   probable   that   the   result   to 

which  you  have  arrived  is  the  best  that,  under  all 
the  circumstances,  could  be  expected.  So  far  as  in 
me  lies,  therefore,  I  shall  recommend  its  adoption." 
The  politicians  at  Richmond  seem  not  to  have  responded 
kindly  to  this  sentiment,  and  Mr.  Tyler  was  compelled 
to  change  his  views;  for,  thirty-six  hours  after  the 
adjournment  of  the  Convention,  in  a  speech  in  the  Vir 
ginia  capi 
tal,  he  de 
nounced 

the  Peace  Convention,  and  declared  that  "the  South"  had 
nothing  to  hope  from  the  Republican  party.  Thence 
forth  he  gave  his  whole  influence  for  the  promotion 
of  disunion. 

On  the  day  when  the  Peace  Convention  assembled  at 
Washington  city,  a  band  of  men,  professing  to  represent 
the  people  of  six  of  the  "seceded  States,"  met  at  Mont 
gomery,  in  Alabama,  to  form  a  Southern  Confederacy. 
They  were  chosen  by  the  Secession  Conventions  of  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and 
Florida;  and  it  is  a  notable  fact  that  the  people  of  these 
States  were  not  allowed  to  act  in  the  matter.  The  poli 
ticians  would  not  trust  them,  and  took  the  whole  manage 
ment  of  public  affairs  into  their  own  hands.  Not  a  single 
ordinance  of  secession  was  ever  submitted  to  the  people 
for  ratification  or  rejection ;  and  the  delegates  that  met  at 
Montgomery,  forty-two  in  number,  assembled  wholly 
without  the  sanction  of  the  people.  Nevertheless,  they 
proceeded  as  if  they  were  a  body  of  representatives,  legally 
chosen  by  the  inhabitants  to  perfect  their  plans.  Howell 
Cobb,  of  Georgia,  was  chosen  to  preside,  who,  in  a  short 
speech,  declared  that  they  represented  "sovereign  and  in 
dependent  States ; ' '  that  the  separation  was  a  ' '  fixed  and 
irrevocable  fact — perfect,  complete,  and  perpetual.  .  .  . 
With  a  consciousness  of  the  justice  of  our  cause,"  he  said, 
"and  with  confidence  in  the  guidance  and  blessings  of  a 
kind  Providence,  we  will  this  day  inaugurate  for  the  South 
a  new  era  of  peace,  security,  and  prosperity." 


GENERAL  JOHN  A.  Dix 


FAC-SIMILE  COPY  OF  GENERAL  Dix's  DISPATCH 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


95 


REMOVING- 

CAPTURED 

ARTILLERY, 


VIEWS  OF  CONFEDERATE  FORTIFICATIONS 


96 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHRONOLOGICAL   SUMMARY   AND    RECORD— Continued 


FEBRUARY,  1862 — Continued  from  Section  2 

17 — Sugar  Creek  or  Pea  Ridge,  Mo.  1st  and  6th  Mo.,  3d  111.  Cav.  Union 
5  killed,  9  wounded. 

18 — Independence,  Mo.  2d  Ohio  Cav.  Union  1  killed,  3  wounded.  Conffd. 
4  killed,  5  wounded. 

21— Ft.  Craig  or  Valverde,  N.  Mex.  1st  X.  Mex.  Cav.,  2d  Col.  Cav.,  De 
tachments  of  1st,  2d  and  5th  X.  Mex.,  and  of  5th,  7th  and  10th  U.  S. 
Inft.,  Hill's  and  McRae's  Batteries.  Union  62  killed,  140  wounded. 
Confed.  150  wounded. 

24— Mason's  Neck,  Occoquan,  Va.     37th  N.  Y.      Union  2  killed,  1  wounded. 

26 — Keytesvtlle,  Mo.  6th  Mo.  Cav.  Union  2  killed,  1  wounded.  Confed. 
1  killed. 

MARCH,  1862 

2 — Pittshurg  Landing,  Tenn.     32d  111.  and  U.  S.  Gunboats  Lexington  and 

Tyler.     Union  5  killed,  5  wounded.     Confed.  20  killed,  200  wounded. 

3 — Xew  Madrid,  Mo.     oth  Iowa,  59th  Ind.,  30th  and  63d  Ohio,  2d  Mich. 

Cav.,  7th  111.  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  3  wounded. 

6 — Occoquan,  Va.     Detachment  of  63d  Pa.     Union  2  killed,  2  wounded. 
6,  7  and  8- — Pea  Ridge,  Ark.,  including  engagements  at  Bentonville,  Lee- 
town  and  Elkhorn  Tavern.     25th,  35th,  36th,  37th,  44th   and  59th 
III..  2d,  3d,  12th,  15th,  17th,  24th,  and  Phelps'  Mo.,  8th,  18th  and 
22d  Ind.,  4th  and  9th  Iowa.  3d  Iowa  Cav.,  3d  and  15th  111.  Cav..  1st, 
4th,  5th  and  6th   Mo.   Cav.,  Batteries  B  and  F  2d  Mo.  Light  Artil., 
2d  Ohio  Battery,   1st  Ind.  Battery,  Battery  A   2d  II!.    Artil.      Union 
203  killed,   972   wounded,    174  missing.      Confed.    1,100  killed,   2,500 
wounded,  1.600  missing  and  captured.      Union  Brig-Gen.  Asboth  and 
Actg.  Brig. -Gen.  Carr  wounded.      Confed.    Brig, -Gen.    B,    McCulloch 
and  Actg.  Brig. -Gen.  James  Mclntosh  killed. 
7 — Fox  Creek,  Mo.     4th  Mo.  Cav.      Union  5  wounded. 
8— Near  Nashville,  Tenn.     1st  Wis.,  4th  Ohio   Cav.      Union   1  killed,  2 

wounded.     Confed.  4  killed. 

9 — Mountain  Grove,  Mo.     10th  Mo.  Cav.      Union  10  killed.  2  wounded. 
Hampton  Roads,  Va.     20th  Ind.,  7th  and  llth  X.  Y.,  U.  S.  Gunboats 
Monitor,    Minnesota,    Congress   and   Cumberland,      Union    261    killed, 
108  wounded.     Confed.  7  killed,  17  wounded. 

10 — Burke's  Station,  Va.     One  Co.  1st  N.  Y.  Cav.      Union  1  killed.     Confed. 

3  killed,  5  wounded. 

Jacksborough,  Big  Creek  Gap,  Tenn.  2d  Tenn.  Union  2  wounded. 
Confed.  2  killed,  4  wounded. 

11 — Paris,  Tenn.  Detachments  of  5th  Iowa  and  1st  Neb.  Cav.,  Battery  K 
1st  Mo.  Art.  Union  5  killed,  5  wounded.  Confed.  10  wounded. 

12 — Lexington,  Mo.     1st  Iowa  Cav,      Union  1  killed,  1  wounded.     Confed.  9 

killed,  3  wounded. 
Near  Lebanon,  Mo.     Confed.  13  killed,  5  wounded. 

13— New  Madrid,  Mo.  10th  and  Kith  II!.,  27th,  39th.  43d  and  63d  Ohio.  3d 
Mich.  Cav.,  1st  U.  S.  Inft.,  Bissell's  Mo.  Engineers.  Union  50 
wounded.  Confed.  100  wounded. 

14 — Newberne,  N.  C.  51st  X.  Y..8th,  10th  and  llth  Conn.,  21st,  23d,  24th, 
25th  and  27th  Mass.,  9th  N.  J.,  51st  Pa.,  4th  and  oth  R.  I.  Union 
91  killed,  466  wounded.  Confed.  64  killed,  106  wounded,  413  cap 
tured. 

16 — Black  Jack  Forest,  Tenn.  Detachments  of  4th  III.  and  5th  Ohio  Cav. 
Union  4  wounded. 

18 — Salem  or  Spring  River,  Ark.  Detachments  of  6th  Mo.  and  3d  Iowa 
Cav.  Union  5  killed,  10  wounded.  Confed.  100  killed,  wounded 
and  missing. 

21 — Mosquito  Inlet,  Fla.  U.  S.  Gunboats  Penguin  and  Henry  Andrew, 
Union  8  killed,  8  wounded. 

22 — Independence  or  Little  Santa  Fe,  Mo.  2d  Kan.  Union  1  killed,  2 
wounded.  Confed.  7  killed. 

23 — Carthage,  Mo.     6th  Kan.  Cav.      Union  1  wounded. 

Winchester  or  Kearnstown,  Va.  1st  W.  Va.,  84th  and  110th  Pa.,  5th, 
7th,  8th,  29th,  62d  and  67th  Ohio,  7th,  13th  and  14th  Ind.,  39th  111., 
1st  Ohio  Cav.,  1st  Mich.  Cav.,  1st  W.  Va.  Artil.,  1st  Ohio  Artil.,  Co. 
E  4th  U.  S.  Artil.  Union  103  killed,  440  wounded,  24  missing. 
Confed.  80  killed,  342  wounded,  269  prisoners. 

26 — Warrensburg  or  Briar,  Mo.      Sixty  men  of  7th  Mo.  Militia  Cav.      Union 

I  killed,  22  wounded.     Conffd.  9  killed,  17  wounded. 
Humonsville,   Mo.     Co.  B  Sth  Mo.     Militia  Cav.      Union  5  wounded. 
Confed.  15  wounded. 

26.  27  and  28 — Apache  Canon  or  Glorietta,  near  Santa  Fe.  X.  Mex.  1st  and 
2d  Colo.  Cav.  Union  32  killed,  75  wounded,  35  missing.  Confed. 
36  killed,  60  wounded,  93  missing. 

28 — Warrensburg,  Mo.  1st  111.  Cav.  Union  3  killed,  1  wounded.  Confed. 
15  killed. 

APRIL,   1862 

2— Putnam's  Ferry,  near  Doniphan,  Mo.  21st  and  38th  111.,  5th  111.  Cav., 
16th  Ohio  Battery  and  Col.  Carlin's  Brigade.  Confed.  3  killed. 

4 — Great  Bethel.  Va.     Advance  of  3d  Corps  Army  of  Potomac.      Union  4 

killed,  10  wounded. 

Crump's  Landing  or  Adamsville,  Tenn.  48th,  70th  and  72d  Ohio,  Sth 
Ohio  Cav.  Union  2  wounded.  Confed.  20  wounded. 

€  and  7— Shiloh  or  Pittsburg  Landing,  Tenn.  Army  of  Western  Tennessee, 
commanded  by  Maj.-Gen.  U.  S.  Grant,  as  follows :  1st  Div.,  Maj.-Gen. 
J.  A.  McClernand;  2d  Div.,  Maj.-Gen.  C.  F.  Smith;  3d  Div.,  Brig. -Gen. 
Lew.  Wallace;  4th  Div..  Brig. -Gen.  S.  A.  Hurlburt;  5th  Div.,  Brig. -Gen. 
W.  T.  Sherman;  6th  Div.,  Brig.-Gen.  B.  M.  Prentiss.  Army  of  the 
Ohio  commanded  by  Maj.-Gen.  D.  C.  Buell,  as  follows:  2d  Div.,  Brig.- 
Gen.  A.  M.  D.  Cook;  4th  Div.,  Brig.-Gen.  W.  Nelson;  Sth  Div.,  Brig.- 
Gen.  T.  L.  Crittenden,  21st  Brigade  of  the  6th  Div.,  Gunboats  Tyler 
and  Lexington.  Union  1,735  killed,  7,882  wounded,  3,956  captured. 
Conffd.  1,728  killed,  8.012  wounded.  959  captured.  Union  Brig.-Gen. 
W.  T.  Sherman  and  W.  H.  L.  Wallace  wounded  and  B.  M.  Prentiss 
captured.  Confed.  Maj.-Gen.  A.  S.  Johnson,  commander-in-chief, 
and  Brig.-Gen.  A.  H.  Gladden  killed;  Maj.-Gen.  W.  S.  Cheatham  and 
Brig.-Gen.  C.  Clark,  B.  R.  Johnson,  and  J.  S.  Bowen  wounded. 


8 — Island  Xo.  10,  Tenn.      Maj.-Gen.  Pope's  command  and  the  Xavy,  under 

Flag-officer  Foote.     Confed.   17  killed,  3.DJO  prisoners. 
Near  Corinth,  Miss.      3d  Brigade  5th  Div.  Army  of  Western  Tennessee 

and  4th  III.  Cav.     Confed.  15  killed,  25  wounded,  200  captured. 
9— Owen's  River,  Cal.     2d  Cat.  Cav.     Union  1  killed,  2  wounded 
10— Ft.  Pulaski,  Ga.     6th  and  7th  Conn.,  3d  R.  I.,  46th  and  48th  N.  Y..  Sth 
Maine,  15th  U.  S.  Inft.,  Crew  of  U.  S.  S.  Wabash.      Union  1  killed. 
Confed.  4  wounded,  300  prisoners. 

11 — Huntsville,  Ala.      Army  of  the  Ohio  3d  Div.      Confed.  200  prisoners. 
Yorktown,  Va.     12th   N.   Y.,   57th  and   63d   Pa.      Union   2  killed.   8 

wounded. 
12— L-ttle  Blue  River,  Mo.     Confed.  5  killed. 

Monterey,  Va.     75th  Ohio,  1st  W.  Va.  Cav.      Union  3  wounded. 
14 — Pollocksville,  X.  C.     Confed.  7  wounded. 

Diamond  Grove,  Mo.     6th  Kan.  Cav.      Union  1  wounded. 
Walkersville,   Mo.      2d  Mo.   Militia  Cav.      Union  2  killed.  3  wounded. 
Montavallo,  Mo.      Two  Cos.  1st  Iowa  Cav.      Union  2  killed,  6  wounded. 

Confed.  2  killed,   10  wounded. 

15 — Pechacho  Pass,  Ariz.      1st  Cal.  Cav.      Union  3  killed,  3  wounded. 
16 — Savannah,  Tenn.      Confed.  5  killed,  65  wounded. 

White  Marsh  or  Wilmington  Island,  Ga.  Sth  Mich.,  Battery  of  R.  I. 
Light  Artil.  Union  10  killed,  35  wounded.  Confed.  5  killed,  7 
wounded. 

Lee's  Mills,  Va.  3d,  4th  and  6th  Vt.,  3d  X.  Y.  Battery  and  Batterv  of 
5th  U.  S.  Artil.  Union  35  killed,  129  wounded.  Confed.  20  killed, 
75  wounded,  50  captured. 

17 — Holly  River,  W.  Va.      Union  3  wounded.     Confed.  2  killed. 
18 — Falmouth.  Va.     2d  N.  Y.  Cav.      Union  5  killed,  16  wounded.     Confed. 

19  captured. 
Edisto  Island,  S.  C.     55th  Pa.,  3d  N.  H.,  U.  S.  S.  Crusader.      Union  3 

wounded. 

18  to  28. — Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Philip,  and  the  capture  of  Xew  Orleans,  La. 
Commodore  Farragut's  fleet  of  war  vessels  and  mortar  boats,  under 
Commander  D.  D.  Porter.  Union  36  killed,  193  wounded.  Confed. 
185  killed,  197  wounded,  400  captured. 

19— Talbot's  Ferry,  Ark.     4th  Iowa  Cav.      Union  1  killed.     Confed.  3  killed. 
Camden,  X.  C.,  also  called  South  Mills.     9th  and  89th  X.  Y.,  21st  Mass., 
51st  Pa.,  6th  X.  H.      Union  12  killed,  98  wounded.     Confed.  6  killed, 
19  wounded. 

23 — Grass  Lick,  W.  Va.     3d  Md.,  Potomac  Home  Brigade.      Union  3  killed. 
25— Fort   Macon,  N.  C.      U.  S.  Gunboats  Daylight,  Georgia,  Chippewa,  the 
bark  Gemsbok  and  Gen.  Parkes'.i  division.,  Union  1  killed,  1 1  wounded. 
Confed.  7  killed,  18  wounded,  450  captured. 
26 — Turnback  Creek,  Mo.     Sth  Kan.  Cav.      Union  1  killed. 

Neosho,    Mo.     1st    Mo.    Cav.      Union   3   killed,   3   wounded.     Confed. 

30  wounded,  62  prisoners. 
In  front  of  Yorktown,  Va.     Three  Cos.  1st  Mass.      Union  3  killed,  16 

wounded. 
27— Horton's  Mills,  M.  C.     103d  N.  Y.     Union  1  killed,  6  wounded.    Confed. 

3  wounded. 
28 — Paint  Rock  Railroad  Bridge.     Twenty-two  men  of  10th  Wis.      Union  7 

wounded. 

Cumberland  Mountain,  Tenn.      16th  and  42d  Ohio,  22d  Ky. 
Monterey,  Tenn.     2d  Iowa  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  3  wounded.     Confed. 

Skilled. 

29 — Bridgeport,  Ala.  3d  Div.  Army  of  the  Ohio.  Confed.  72  killed  and 
wounded,  350  captured. 

MAY,   1862 

1 — Clarke's  Hollow,  W.  Va.     Co.  C  23d  Ohio.      Union  1  killed,  21  wounded. 

3— Farmington,  Miss.      10th,  16th,  22d,  27th,  42d  and  51st  111..  10th  and 

16th  Mich.,  Yates's  (111.)  Sharpshooters,    2d    Mich.    Cav..  Battery  C 

1st  111.  Artil.      Union  2  killed,  12  wounded.      Confed.  30  killed. 

4 — Licking,    Mo.     24th   Mo.,   Sth   Mo.,    Militia   Cav.      Union   1   killed,   2 

wounded. 

Cheese  Cake  Church,  Va.     3d  Pa.,  1st  and  Gth  U.  S.  Cav. 
5 — Lebanon,  Tenn.     1st,  4th  and  Sth  Ky.  Cav.,  Detachment  of  the  7th  Pa. 

Union  6  killed,  25  wounded.      Confed.  66  prisoners. 
Lockridge  Mills  or  Dresden,  Ky.     Sth  Iowa  Cav.      Union  4   killed,    16 
wounded,  08  missing. 

Williamsburg,  Va.      3d  and  4th  C \rrny  of  the  Potomac.      Union 

456  killed,  1,400  wounded,  372  i .__.   Confed.  1,000  killed,  wounded, 

and  captured. 

7 — West  Point  or  Eltham's  Landi--,  Va.      16th,  31st  and  32d  X.  Y.,  95th 
and  Olith  Pa.,  Sth  Maine.  Is,  Mass.  Artil.,  Battery  D  2d  U.  S.  Artil. 
Union  49  killed,  104  wounded,  41  missing. 
Somerville   Heights,   Va.      13th   Ind.      Union  2  killed,   7  wounded,   24 

missing. 

8— McDowell  or  Bull  Pasture,  Va.     25th,  32d,  75th  and  82d  Ohio.  3'1  W. 
Va.,  1st  W.  Va.  Cav.,  1st  Conn.  Cav.,  1st  Ind.  Battery.      Union  28 
killed,  225  wounded.      Confed.   100  killed,  200  wounded. 
Glendale,  near  Corinth,  Miss.     7th  111.  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  4  wounded. 

Confed.  30  killed  and  wounded. 
9 — Elkton  Station,  near  Athens,  Ala.      Co.  E  37th  Ind.      Union  5  killed, 

43  captured.     Confed.  13  killed. 
Slatersville  or  Xew  Kent  C.  H.T  Va.     98th  Pa..  2d  R.  L.  6th  U.  S.  Cav. 

Union  4  killed,  3  wounded.     Confed.  10  killed,  14  wounded. 
10 — Fort  Pillow,  Tenn.      U.  S.  Gunboats  Cincinnati  and  Mound  City.     Union 

3  wounded.     Confed.  2  killed,  1  wounded. 
11— Bloomfield,  Mo.      1st  Wis.  Cav.     Confed.  1  killed. 

13 — Monterey,  Tenn.  Part  of  Brig.-Gen.  M.  L.  Smith's  Brigade.  Union  2 
wounded.  Confed.  2  killed,  3  wounded. 

(Continued  in  Section  4) 


COPYRIGHT,     1912       UY     THE     WAR     MEMORIAL     ASSOCIATION 


THOMAS   AT   CHICKAMAUGA.   SEPTEMBER   2O    1863 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


97 


BATTERIKS  AGAINST  FORT  SUMTER 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


MAJOR  ROBERT  ANDERSON 


CHAPTER    VI.— Continued. 

IT  was  soon  found  that  perfect  harmony  could  not  be  expected 
to  prevail  in  that  Convention.  There  were  too  many  ambi 
tious  men  there  to  promote  serenity  of  thought  and  manner, 
and  the  sweetness  of  concord.  They  were  nearly  all  aspirants  for 
high  positions  in  the  new  empire  about  to  be  formed;  and  each 
felt  himself,  like  Bottom  the  Weaver,  capable  of  sustaining  any 
character,  from  that  of  a  "Lion"  to  "Moonshine."  The  South 
Carolina  politicians  were  particularly  clamorous  for  honors  and 
emoluments.  Their  State,  they  said,  had  taken  the  lead — struck 
the  first  blow — in  the  revolution,  and  they  deserved  the  highest 
seats.  Judge  McGrath,  who  laid  aside  his  official  robes  at 
Charleston,  sent  word  that  he  would  like  to  put  them  on  again 
at  Montgomery  as  Attorney-General.  R.  Barnwell  Rhett,  one  of 
the  most  violent  of  the  politicians,  thought  himself  particularly 
fitted  to  be  Secretary  of  War;  and  because  his  claims  were  not 
allowed,  he  wrote  complaining  letters  to  his  son,  the  editor  of  the 
Charleston  Mercury,  some  of  the  originals  of  which  are  now  before 
me,  and  are  rich  in  revelations  of  disappointed  ambition.  On  the 
1 6th  of  February,  Rhett  said  in  a  letter,  written  at  Montgomery: 
"They  have  not  put  me  forward  for  office,  it  is  true.  I  have  two 
enemies  in  the  [South  Carolina]  delegation.  One  friend,  who,  I 

believe,  wants  no  office  himself,  and  will  probably  act  on  the  same  principle  for  his  friend — and  the  rest, 
personally,  are  indifferent  to  me,  whilst  some  of  them  are  not  indifferent  to  themselves.  There  is  no  little 
jealousy  of  me  by  a  part  of  them,  and  they  will  never  agree  to  recommend  me  to  any  position  whatever 
under  the  Confederacy.  I  expect  nothing,  therefore,  from  the  delegation,  lifting  me  to  position.  Good 
bye,  my  dear  son."  Rhett  and  men  of  his  way  of  thinking  had  counselled  violence  and  outrage  from  the 
beginning,  but  they  were  restrained  in  the  Convention  by 
more  sensible  men  like  Stephens  and  Hill  of  Georgia, 
Brooks  of  Mississippi,  and  Perkins  of  Louisiana. 

The  sessions  of  the  Convention  were  mostly  held  in 
secret.  A  committee  of  thirteen  was  appointed,  with  C. 
G.  Memminger  as  chairman,  to  report  a  plan  for  a  provi 
sional  Confederate  government,  and  it  was  agreed  to  call 
the  Convention  a  "Congress."  The  Legislature  of  Ala 
bama  voted  a  loan  of  half  a  million  dollars  to  enable  the 
Secessionists  to  set  the  new  government  in  motion ;  and  on 
the  same  day  (February  7,  1861),  the  committee  reported 
a  plan,  the  basis  of  which  was  the  National  Constitution 
with  some  important  modifications.  They  gave  the  name 
of  the  government  organized  under  it  the  Confederate 
States  of  America.  This  was  a  misnomer;  for  no  States  as 
States  were  parties  to  the  affair ;  it  was  only  a  confedera 
tion  of  politicians  without  the  sanction  of  the  people. 

The  constitution  of  the  provisional  government  was 
adopted  by  the  unanimous  "vote  of  the  States  "  on  the  8th 
of  February.  On  the  following  day,  the  members  of  the 
Convention  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Confederate 
States  of  America:  and  then  they  proceeded  to  elect 
Jefferson  Davis  of  Mississippi  provisional  president,  and 

Alexander  H.  Stephens  of  Georgia  vice-president  of  the  GENERAL  p  Q  T   BEAUREGARD>  c.  s.  A. 

Confederacy.     The    vast    multitude    who    thronged    the 

NOTE — EXPLANATION'  FOR  COLOR  FRONTISPIECE — THOMAS  AT  CHICKAMAUGA — The  scenic  setting  of  this  pictute  represents  a  background 
of  Tennessee  hills,  flanking  the  historic  battlefield  where  the  Confederate  forces  beat  in  vain  against  the  stubborn  troops  that,  under  General  Thomas,  stood 
like  a  wall  in  their  path.  Against  the  face  of  the  hill  can  be  seen  the  smoke  of  the  conflict,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  war.  General  Gordon  Granger, 
commanding  the  reserve  corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  occupied  a  position  several  miles  away  from  the  battlefield,  awaiting  orders.  He  became 
exceedingly  impatient,  and  finally  turning  to  one  of  his  staff  officers,  he  said:  "I  am  going  to  Thomas, 'orders  or  no  orders,"  and  marched  his  corps  toward 
the  sound  of  the  battle.  The  picture  represents  General  Granger  at  the  moment  of  his  arrival,  shaking  hands  with  Thomas,  while  the  troops  go  forward  into 
the  battle,  finding  "lovely  fighting  all  along  the  line." 


Copyright,  1895,  by  CHARLES  F.  JOHNSON.     Copyright,  19(15,  by  LOSSING  HISTORY  COMPANY.     Copyright,  1912,  by  THE  WAR  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


99 


PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S  FIRST  CABINET:  i.  .SIMON  CAMERON,  SECRETARY  OF  WAR.  2.  GIDEON  WELLS,  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 
3.  SALMON  P.  CHASE,  SECRETARY  OF  TREASURY.  4.  HANNIBAL  HAMLIN,  VICE-PRESIDENT.  5.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  SECRETARY  OF 
STATE.  6.  CALEB  B.  SMITH,  SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR.  7.  EDWARD  BATES,  ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 


100 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


State-House  received  the  announcement  of  the  election  with  vehement  applause,  and  the  same  evening 
Mr.  Stephens  was  serenaded.  In  a  brief  speech  he  predicted  a  glorious  career  for  the  Confederacy,  if  it 
should  be  supported  by  "the  virtue,  intelligence,  and  patriotism  of  the  people."  Alluding  to  the  slave- 
system,  he  said:  "With  institutions,  so  far  as  regards  their  organic  and  social  policy,  in  strict  conformity 
to  nature  and  the  laws  of  the  Creator,  whether  read  in  the  Book  of  Inspiration  or  the  great  Book  of 
Manifestations  around  us,  we  have  all  the  natural  elements  essential  to  the  highest  attainment  in  the 
highest  degree  of  power  and  glory.  These  institutions  have  been  much  assailed,  and  it  is  our  mission  to 
vindicate  the  great  truths  on  which  they  rest,  and  with  them  exhibit  the  highest  type  of  civilization 

which  it  is  possible  for  human  society  to 
reach." 

Having  appointed  standing  commit 
tees,  the  Convention  proceeded  to  choose 
a  committee  to  report  a  form  for  a  perma 
nent  government  for  the  Confederacy, 
and  they  and  the  members  warmly  dis 
cussed  the  subject  of  a  proper  national 
flag  and  seal.  Almost  daily,  various  de 
vices  were  sent  in;  and  finally  they  de 
cided  that  the  national  flag  should  consist 
of  two  red  and  one  white  stripe  of  equal 
width,  running  horizontally,  with  a  blue 
union  spangled  with  seven  white  stars, 
for,  since  the  beginning  of  their  session, 
Texas  had  joined  the  Confederacy,  ma 
king  seven  States  in  their  union.  This 
flag,  under  which  the  insurgent  hosts 


MAJ.  ALLAN  PINKERTON,  SECRET 
SERVICE  HEADQUARTERS 

rushed  to  battle,  was  first  dis 
played  over  the  State-House  at 
Montgomery  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1 86 1.  The  Confederate  govern 
ment  never  possessed  a  seal,  the 
emblem  of  sovereignty.  One 
which  they  had  ordered  from 
England  arrived  at  Richmond 
just  as  the  Confederacy  was  bro 
ken  up,  in  April,  1865,  and  was 
never  used. 

When  Jefferson  Davis  was 
apprised,  at  his  home  near  Vicks- 
burg,  of  'his  election  to  the  presi 
dency,  he  hastened  to  Mont 
gomery,  where  he  was  received  with  great  enthusiasm,  on  the  i5th  of  February.  He  was  welcomed  with 
the  thunder  of  cannon  and  shouts  of  a  great  multitude;  and  at  the  railway  station  he  made  a  speech,  in 
which  he  briefly  reviewed  the  then  position  of  the  South.  He  declared  that  the  time  for  compromises  had 
passed.  "We  are  now  determined,"  he  said,  "to  maintain  our  position,  and  make  all  who  oppose  us  smell 
Southern  powder  and  feel  Southern  steel.  .  .  .  We  will  maintain  our  rights  and  our  government  at 
all  hazards.  We  ask  nothing;  we  want  nothing;  and  will  have  no  complications.  If  the  other  States 
join  our  Confederacy,  they  can  freely  come  in  on  our  terms.  Our  separation  from  the  old  Union  is 
complete,  and  no  compromise,  no  reconciliation  can  now  be  entertained."  He  was  inaugurated  on  the 
i8th,  when  he  chose  for  his  constitutional  advisers,  Robert  Toombs,  Secretary  of  State;  Charles  G. 
Memminger,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  Le  Roy  Pope  Walker,  Secretary  of  War;  Stephen  R.  Mallory. 


GROUP  AT  SEC-RET  SERVICE  HEADQUARTERS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


101 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  SENATE  AND   FIRST   CONFEDERATE    CABINET. 


FOUNTAIN   ANO   STREET    IN  MONTGOMERY,  ALA. 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS'  FIRST  CABINET 


102 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  John  H.  Reagan,  Postmaster-General.     Judah  P.  Benjamin  was  appointed 
Attorney-General.     So  was  inaugurated  the  government  known  as  the  Confederate  States  of  America 
which  carried  on  war  against  the  life  of  our  Republic  for  more  than  four  years. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Lunacy — Yielding  to  Necessity — Wild  Dreams  of  the  Future — Boasting — The  Confederates  Prepare  for  War — Permanent  Constitution 
Adopted — Adjournment  of  the  Montgomery  Convention — Principles  of  the  New  Government  Expounded — Lincoln  and  Davis — 
Lincoln's  Journey  to  the  Capital — Narrative  of  His  Escape — His  Inauguration  and  Inaugural  Address — Duties  of  the  Administration 
— Condition  of  the  Army  and  Navy — Benton's  Prophecy — Confederate  Commissioners  at  the  Capital — The  Virginians — Attempt 
to  Relieve  Fort  Sumter  and  the  Result. 

THERE  were  symptoms  of  real  lunacy  among  some  of  the  leaders  in  the  revolutionary  movement, 
especially  in  South  Carolina.     When  that  new  "nation"  was  only  nine  days  old,  a  correspondent 
of  the  Associated  Press  wrote  that  it  had  been  proposed  to  adopt  for  it  a  new  system  of  civil  time,  to 
show  its  independence.     Only  a  week  after  the  organization  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  at  Montgomery, 


U.  S.  INFANTRY  CAMP 

the  editor  of  the  Charleston  Courier  wrote :  "The  South  might,  under  the  new  Confederacy,  treat  the 
disorganized  and  demoralized  Northern  States  as  insurgents,  and  deny  them  recognition.  But  if 
peaceful  division  ensues,  the  South,  after  taking  the  Federal  Capitol  and  archives,  and  being  recognized 
as  the  government  de  facto  by  all  foreign  powers,  can,  if  they  see  proper,  recognize  the  Northern  Con 
federacy  or  Confederacies,  and  enter  into  treaty  stipulations  with  them.  Were  this  not  done,  it  would 
be  difficult  for  the  Northern  States  to  take  a  place  among  the  nations,  and  their  flag  would  not  be  respected 
or  recognized."  There  was  much  "wild  talk"  of  that  sort;  and  the  venerable  James  L.  Pettigru  of 
Charleston,  who  remained  a  firm  friend  of  the  Union  in  spite  of  the  madmen  around  him,  was  justified 
when,  on  being  asked  by  a  stranger  in  the  streets  of  the  city,  "Where  is  the  lunatic  asylum?"  he 
said,  as  he  pointed  alternately  to  the  east,  "It  is  there;"  to  the  west,  "It  is  there;"  to  the  north,  "It  is 
there;"  and  to  the  south,  "It  is  there;  the  whole  State  of  South  Carolina  is  a  lunatic  asylum." 

Notwithstanding  the  same  arrogant  and  world-defying  spirit  was  superficially  manifested  in  the 
councils  of  the  Confederacy  at  Montgomery,  they  were  compelled  to  bow  to  the  behests  of  prudence  and 
expediency,  and,  abandoning  the  position  that  they  would  have  free  trade  with  all  the  world  whereby  the 
riches  of  the  earth  would  fall  at  their  feet,  they  proceeded  not  only  to  impose  a  tariff  upon  imports,  but 
regarding  "King  Cotton"  as  immortal  and  omniscient,  they  even  went  so  far  as  to  propose  an  export  duty 
on  the  great  staple  of  the  Gulf  States.  Howell  Cobb,  who  proposed  it,  said:  "I  apprehend  that  we  are 
conscious  of  the  power  we  hold  in  our  hands,  by  reason  of  our  producing  that  staple  so  necessary  to  the 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


VIEWS  OF  FORT  SUMTER 


104 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


world.  I  doubt  not  that  power  will  exert  an  influence  mightier  than  armies  or  navies.  We  know  that  by 
an  embargo  we  could  soon  place  not  only  the  United  States,  but  many  of  the  European  powers,  under  the 
necessity  of  electing  between  such  a  recognition  of  our  independence  as  we  require,  or  domestic  convulsions 
at  home."  Of  this  supposed  omnipotent  power,  and  the  superior  courage  and  prowess  in  arms  of  the 
people  of  the  slave-labor  States,  the  leaders  were  continually  boasting.  Senator  Hammond,  of  South 
Carolina,  a  wealthy  slaveholder  and  a  son  of  a  New  England  schoolmaster,  writing  to  a  feminine  relative 
in  Schenectady,  New  York,  on  the  5th  of  February,  1861,  after  alluding  to  the  dissolution  of  the  Union, 
and  saying,  "We  absolve  you,  by  this,  from  all  the  sins  of  slavery,  and  take  upon  ourselves  all  its  supposed 
sin  and  evil,  openly  before  the  world,  and  in  the  sight  of  God,"  remarked:  "Let  us  alone.  Let  me  tell 
you,  my  dear  cousin,  that  if  there  is  any  attempt  at  war  on  the  part  of  the  North,  we  can  soundly  thrash 
them  on  any  field  of  battle."  "One  Southron  is  equal  to  five  Yankees  in  a  fight!"  exclaimed  Yancey,  in 
a  speech  at  Selma.  And  the  Convention  at  Montgomery  proceeded  to  prepare  for  testing  the  relative 
strength  of  the  two  sections. 

President  Davis 
was  authorized  to 
accept  one  hundred 
thousand  volunteers 
for  six  months,  and 
to  borrow  $15,000,- 
ooo  at  the  rate  of 
eight  per  cent,  in 
terest  a  year.  Pro 
vision  was  made  for 
a  navy  and  a  postal 
revenue;  and  Davis 
was  authorized  to 
assume  control  of 
"all  military  opera 
tions  between  the 
Confederate  States" 
or  any  of  them,  and 
powers  foreign  to 
them.  The  Conven 
tion  recommended 
the  several  States  to 
cede  the  forts  and 
all  other  public  es 
tablishments  within 
their  limits  to  the 
Confederate  States; 
and  P.  G.  T.  Beaure- 

gard,  a  Louisiana  Creole,  who  had  abandoned  his  flag,  was  appointed  brigadier-general  and  ordered  from 
New  Orleans  to  the  command  of  the  insurgents  at  Charleston.  Early  in  March  a  permanent  constitution 
for  the  Confederacy  was  adopted;  and  a  commission  was  appointed  to  proceed  to  Washington  and  make 
a  settlement  of  all  questions  at  issue  between  the  ' '  two  governments, ' '  while  the  Confederate  secretary  of 
the  treasury  prepared  to  establish  custom-houses  along  the  frontiers  of  the  Confederate  States.  After 
agreeing,  by  resolution,  to  accept  a  portion  of  the  money  belonging  to  the  United  States  which  Louisiana 
had  unlawfully  seized,  the  Convention  adiourned.  Their  proceedings  were  never  published,  but  constitute 
a  part  of  the  "Confederate  archives"  in  the  possession  of  the  National  Government. 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Stephens,  the  vice-president  of  the  Confederacy,  had  assumed  the  office  of  expounder 
of  the  principles  upon  which  the  new  government  was  founded.  In  a  speech  at  Savannah,  on  the  2ist  of 
March,  1861,  he  declared  that  the  immediate  cause  of  the  rebellion  was  African  Slavery — the  rock,  he 
said,  on  which  Mr.  Jefferson  declared  the  Union  would  split;  but  he  doubted  whether  Mr.  Jefferson 
understood  the  truth  on  which  that  rock  stood.  He  believed  the  founders  of  the  Republic  held  erroneous 
views  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  that  it  was  a  false  assumption  of  the  fathers,  put  forth  in  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  that  "all  men  are  created  equal."  He  declared  that  the  corner-stone  of  the  new 
Confederacy  rested  " upon  the  great  truth,  that  the  negro  is  not  equal  to  the  white  man;  that  slavery— 


DEFENCES  OF  WASHINGTON 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


105 


106 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


subordination  to  the  superior  race — is  his  natural  and  normal  condition.  It  is  upon  this  truth,"  he  said, 
"on  which  our  fabric  is  firmly  planted;  and  I  cannot  permit  myself  to  doubt  the  ultimate  success  of  a  full 
recognition  of  this  principle  throughout  the  civilized  world."  Then,  to  give  strength  to  his  declaration 
that  slavery  was  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  fabric,  he  rather  irreverently  quoted  the  words  of  the  Apostle 


applied  to 
by  the  first 
in  our  new 

While 
ing  the  Union 
serving  it.  In 
in  the  latter, 
persuade  the 
really  organ- 
Jefferson  Da- 
be  inaugu- 
Montgomery, 
Southern 
Lincoln  was 
Illinois  to  the 
stalled  Chief 
divided  Re- 
justice,  and 

South,  in  his  inaugural  address: 
friends.  We  must  not  be  ene- 
have  strained,  it  must  not  break 
mystic  chords  of  memory, 
field  and  patriot  grave  to  every 
all  over  this  broad  land,  will  yet 
when  again  touched,  as  surely 
angels  of  our  nature."  They 

Jefferson  Davis  was  then 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  fifty-two, 
was,  in  person,  sinewy  and  light, 
the  middle  height,  and  erect  in 
Lincoln  was  tall,  thin,  large- 
six  feet  four  inches  in  height. 


ewy,  easily  lifting  five  hundred  pounds.     His 

were  disproportionately  long,  and  there  was  no 

movements.     The  features  of  Davis  were  regu- 

defined;   his  face  was  thin  and  much  wrinkled; 

sightless,  and  the  other  was  dark  and  piercing 

Lincoln's  features  were  angular;    his  forehead 

eyes  were  dark  gray  and  very  expressive,  alter- 

ling    with    fun    and    subdued    into    sadness. 

and  Davis  were   both    natives   of    Kentucky, 

life  Davis' was  taken  to  Mississippi.     Raised  in 

parative  luxury,  he  was  educated  at  the  West 

tary  Academy.     He  served  in  the  army  in  Mex- 

father-in-law,  General  Zachary  Taylor;  held  a 

place  in  the  National  Congress,  and  was  Presi- 

Secretary  of  War.     Lincoln  was  born  in  obscurity;  passed  his  early  days  in  poverty,  laboring  with  his 

hands  on  a  farm,  in  the  forest,  or  as  a  flat-boatman  on  the  Mississippi.     He  had  settled  with  his  father  in 

Illinois,  where  he,  self-taught,  studied  law  and  rose  to  distinction  at  the  bar,  and  in  the  esteem  of  his 

fellow-citizens.     Davis  was  a  keen  politician;  calm,  reticent,  audacious,  polished,  cold,  sagacious,  rich  in 

experience  in  the  arts  of  the  partisan  and  the  affairs  of  statecraft,  possessed  of  great  concentration  of 

purpose,  an  imperious  will,  abounding  pride,  and  much  executive  ability.     Lincoln  was  as  open  as  the  day; 

loved  truth  supremely,   and  country  above  party;  abhorred  trickery  and  deception;  possessed  great 


Christ,  saying:  "This  stone  that  was  rejected 
builders,  '  is  become  the  chief  stone  of  the  corner ' 
edifice." 

there  were  preparations  in  the  South  for  destroy- 
there  were  preparations  in  the  North  for  pre- 
the  former  section,  they  were  chiefly  material; 
they  were  chiefly  moral,  for  it  was  difficult  to 
loyal  people  that  the  Southern  politicians  would 
ize  an  armed  rebellion.  At  the  time  when 
vis  was  moving  from  his  home  in  Mississippi  to 
rated  president  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  at 
and  to  declare  "all  who  oppose  us  shall  smell 
powder  and  feel  Southern  steel,"  Abraham 
moving  from  his  home  in 
National  capital,  to  be  in- 
Magistrate  of  the  whole  un- 
public,  with  sublime  faith  in 
to  say  to  the  North  and  the 
"We  are  not  enemies,  but 
mies.  Though  passion  may 
our  bonds  of  affection.  The 
stretching  from  every  battle- 
living  heart  and  hearthstone 
swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union 
they  will  be,  by  the  better 
were  nearly  equal  in  age. 
about  fifty-four  years  of  age ; 
Mr.  Davis 
a  little  above 
posture;  Mr. 
boned,  and 
He  was  sin- 
legs  and  arms 
grace  in  his 
lar  and  well 
one  eye  was 
in  expression, 
was  high ;  his 
nately  spark- 
Mr.  Lincoln 
but  in  early 
ease  and  corn- 
Point  Mili- 
ico  under  his 
distinguished 
dent  Pierce's 


INTERIOR  Vncws  OF  FORT  SUMTKR 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


107 


108 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


firmness  of  will  and  a  childlike  reliance  upon  God ;  read  the  Bible  and  Shakespeare  more  than  any  other 
books;  with  extraordinary  conversational  powers  and  exuberant  mirthfulness  manifested  in  sparkling 
jests,  stories  and  anecdotes,  at  appropriate  times.  He  was,  at  one  time,  a  representative  in  the  National 
Congress;  and  on  all  occasions  appeared  as  a  representative  American,  illustrating  by  his  own  career,  in  a 


most  conspicuous  and  distinguished  manner, 
cent  and  elevating  operations  of  republican 
and  institutions.  His  last  words,  when  he 
his  home  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  after  allu- 
Washington,  whose  seat  he  w?as  about  to 
feel  that  I  cannot  succeed  without  the  same 
which  sustained  him,  and  on  the  same 
Being  I  place  my  reliance  for  support;  and  I 
my  friends,  will  all  pray  that  I  may  receive 
assistance  without  which  I  cannot  succeed, 
which  success  is  certain." 

On  his  journey  to  the  National  capital 
New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Harrisburg, 
was  everywhere  greeted  with  affection  and 
was  in  Philadelphia  on 
ton's  birthday,  and  with  his 
raised  the  American  flag 
the  consecrated  old  State- 
the  presence  of  a  vast  as- 
people.  There,  where  the 
pendence  was  adopted  and 
an  extraordinary  speech,  in 
his  views  of  the  moral  power 
ment,  and  declared  his  belief 
of  justice  enunciated  in  it, 
saved  from  ruin.  "But,"  he 
country  cannot  be  saved 
principle,  I 
I  would 
on  this  spot 
My  friends, 
but  what  I 
and,  if  it  be 
mighty  God, 
than  four 
in  I  n  d  e - 
sinated  be  • 
principles  of 

A  plot 
murder  Mr. 
through 
at  Washing- 
existence  of 
ger  to  meet 
danger.  The 
President's 
1864,  and 
in  much 


VIEWS  OF  FORTRESS  MONROE 


the  benefi- 
government 
parted  from 
ding  to 
occupy :  "I 
Divine  aid 
Almighty 
hope  you, 
that  Divine 
but  with 


by  way  of 
Mr.  Lincoln 
respect.  He 
Washing- 
own  hands 
high  above 
House,  in 
semblage  of 
Declaration  of  Inde- 
proclaimed,  he  made 
which  he  expounded 
of  that  great  instru- 
that  by  the  principles 
our  Republic  might  be 
exclaimed,  "if  this 
without  giving  up  this 
was  about  to  say 
rather  be  assassinated 
than  surrender  it.  .  .  . 
I  have  said  nothing 
am  willing  to  live  by, 
the  pleasure  of  Al- 
dic  by. ' '  A  little  more 
years  afterward,  his  body  lay  in  state 
pendence  Hall.  He  had  been  assas- 
cause  he  had  firmly  supported  the 
the  Declaration  of  Independence ! 
had  been  formed  in  Baltimore  to 
Lincoln  while  he  should  be  passing 
that  city.  General  Scott  and  others 
ton  were  so  well  satisfied  of  the 
such  a  plot,  that  they  sent  a  messen- 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  warn  him  of  his 
story  of  his  escape  was  given  by  the 
own  lips  to  the  writer  in  December, 
was  substantially  as  follows,  though 
greater  detail:  He  arrived  in  Phila 


delphia  on  the  2ist  of  February,  where  he  agreed  to  stop  over  night,  and  hoist  the  flag  on  Independence 
Hall  the  next  morning.  That  evening  an  intimate  friend  of  his  from  Chicago  (Mr.  Judd)  invited  Mr. 
Lincoln  to  his  room  in  the  Continental  Hotel,  where  he  met  Mr.  Allan  Pinkerton,  a  shrewd  detective 
from  Chicago.  They  told  Mr.  Lincoln  of  the  plot.  Mr.  Pinkerton  had  been  engaged  several  days  in 
Baltimore  in  ferreting  it  out.  It  was  fully  discovered,  but  he  could  not  learn  the  names  of  the  conspirators. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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FORT  JOHNSON,  JAMES  ISLAND 


Mr.  Lincoln  had  made  arrangements  to  go  to  Harrisburg  from  Philadelphia,  to  meet  the  Pennsylvania 
Legislature  there,  and  from  that  capital  to  proceed  through  Baltimore  to  Washington.  His  friends  urged 
him  to  go  on  that  night  through  Baltimore  to  the  capital,  and  so  evade  the  murderers;  but  he  determined 

to  adhere  to  his  engagements,  for  he  could  not  believe  there 
was  a  conspiracy  to  kill  him. 

When  returning  to  his  room  at  the  Continental,  Mr. 
Lincoln  met  a  son  of  Senator  Seward,  the  messenger  sent 
to  give  him  warning.  He  said  the  Washington  police  had 
discovered  the  plot,  but  they  were  not  aware  of  the  work 
of  Mr.  Pinkerton.  Then  Mr.  Lincoln  was  satisfied  that 
there  was  danger.  After  hoisting  the  flag  at  the  State- 
House  the  next  morning,  he  went  to  Harrisburg,  in  com 
pany  with  Mr.  Sumner  and  others,  dined,  and  waited  for 
the  time  to  return  to  Philadelphia,  for  he  determined  to 
go  back  to  that  city,  and  immediately  on  to  Baltimore, 
instead  of  leaving  Harrisburg  the  next  morning  for 
that  place,  according  to  the  public  arrangements.  Mr. 

^_  Judd,  meanwhile,  had  obtained  such  control  of  the  tele- 

j  ^•••^j  BffeT^fc  EH     graPn  at  Harrisburg,  that  no  communication  could  pass 

to  Baltimore  and  give  the  conspirators  a  knowledge  of  the 
change  in  arrangements.  In  New  York  Mr.  Lincoln  had 
been  presented  with  a  fine  beaver  hat,  and  in  it  had  been 
placed  a  soft  wool  hat.  He  had  the  hats  in  a  box  in  his 
room.  He  had  never  worn  a  soft  wool  hat  in  his  life;  so, 
after  making  arrangements  for  Mr.  Lamon  (afterward 
•marshal  of  the  District  of  Columbia),  whom  nobody  knew,  and  Mr.  Judd,  to  accompany. him,  Mr.  Lincoln 
put  on  an  old  overcoat  he  had  with  him,  and  with  the  soft  hat  in  his  pocket,  he  walked  out  the  back  door 
of  the  hotel  where  he  was  stopping,  bareheaded,  without  exciting  any  special  curiosity.  "Then  I  put  on 
the  soft  hat  and  joined  my  friends,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "for  I  was  not  the  same  man."  They  returned  to 
Philadelphia,  where  they  found  a  despatch  from  Pinkerton,  at  Baltimore,  that  it  was  doubtful  whether 
the  conspirators  had  courage  to  execute  their  scheme;  but  as  the  arrangements  had  been  made,  they  went 
on  in  a  special  train.  "We  were  a  long  time  in  the  station  at  Baltimore,"  said  the  President.  "I  heard 
people  talking  around,  but  no  one  particularly  observed  me.  At  an  early  hour  on  Saturday  morning, 
at  about  the  time  I  was  expected  to  leave  Harrisburg,  I_  arrived  in  Washington." 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  warmly  welcomed  by  his  friends  in  Washington  city,  and  when,  at  an  early  hour 
after  his  arrival  (February  23,  1861),  he  called  on  President  Buchanan,  the  latter  could  hardly  believe  his 
eyes.  He  gave  the  President-elect  a  cordial  welcome.  So 
also  did  General  Scott,  who,  the  Secessionists  thought, 
would  join  them  because  he  was  a  Virginian;  but  he  was 
loyal  to  the  core,  and  had  filled  Washington  city  with 
troops  in  such  numbers,  it  was  supposed,  that  serious  in 
terference  with  Mr.  Lincoln's  inauguration  was  made 
impossible.  That  ceremony  took  place  on  Monday,  the 
4th  of  March,  1861.  Chief  Justice  Taney  administered 
the  oath.  There  was  no  disturbance.  The  scheme  of  the 
Secessionists  to  prevent  Mr.  Lincoln's  inauguration  had 
been  frustrated,  but  the  plan  of  the  Confederates  to  ulti 
mately  seize  the  National  capital  was  still  a  cherished  one. 
Only  about  six  hundred  troops  were  there,  but  as  they  had 
been  gathered  in  small  numbers  at  a  time  from  various 
points,  and  kept  concealed,  the  Secessionists  believed  there 
were  many  thousands  of  them ;  and  when  the  small  num 
ber  was  revealed  on  the  first  of  March,  it  was  too  late  to 
call  together  the  "minute-men  "  of  Maryland  and  Virginia. 
Meanwhile  President  Buchanan  had  been  greatly  harassed 
by  the  Secessionists.  Governor  Pickens  had  demanded  of 
Major  Anderson  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter.  Anderson  CHARLES  A.  DANA,  ASSISTANT  SECRETARY  OF  WAR 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE     CIVIL     WAR 


refused;  whereupon  the  governor  sent  J.  W.  Hayne,  the  attorney-general  of  South  Carolina,  to  Washington, 
to  make  the  same  demand.  The  President's  course  was  vacillating;  and  in  this,  as  in  other  matters,  he 
resolved  to  cast  the  responsibility  upon  his  successor.  The  Secessionists  had  failed  to  accomplish,  through 
the  arts  of  diplomacy,  a  recognition  by  the  National  Government  of  the  sovereignty  of  any  States;  and 
their  efforts  ceased  early  in  February.  Mr.  Buchanan  left  the  chair  of  state  for  private  life  a  deeply 
humiliated  and  sorrowing  man.  On  bidding  Senator  Fitzpatrick  good-bye,  and  with  the  consciousness  of 
rare  opportunities  for  winning  glory  and  renown  as  a  patriot  forever  lost,  he  said:  "The  current  of  public 
opinion  warns  me  that  we  shall  never  meet  again  on  this  side  the  grave.  I  have  tried  to  do  my  duty  to 
both  sections,  and  have  displeased  both.  I  feel  isolated  in  the  world." 

President  Lincoln,  standing  at  the  east  front  of  the  Capitol,  like  Saul  among  the  prophets,  head  and 
shoulders  above  other  men,  read  his  inaugural  address  in  a  clear,  loud  voice,  in  the  ears  of  a  vast  multitude 
of  people,  who  heard  him  distinctly,  and  who  greeted  its  sentences  with  cheer  after  cheer.  It  had  been 


waited  for  by  the  loyal  peo- 
greatest  anxiety,  for  it  was 
policy  of  the  new  adminis- 
gave  no  uncertain  sound, 
labor  States  he  first  ad- 
in  which  he  said:  "I  have 
directly,  to  interfere  with 
the  States  where  it  exists, 
right  to  do  so,  and  I  have  no 
read  a  resolution  of  the  Re- 
nominated  him,  which  de- 
States,  in  order  that  they 
stitutions,  should  be  main- 
nouncing  as  a  high  crime 
force  of  any  State  or  Terri- 
pretext."  He  reiterated 
assured  the  people  that ' '  the 
rity  of  no  section"  were  to 
gered  by  the  new  incoming 
ther  that  every  section  of 
protection  without  favor  to 
Mr.  Lincoln  then  dis- 
ture  and  character  of  the 


FORT  MOUI.TKIE  AFTER  BOMBARDMENT 


pie  of  the  land  with  the 
expected  to  foreshadow  the 
tration.  And  so  it  did.  It 
To  the  people  of  the  slave- 
dressed  a  few  assuring  words 
no  purpose,  directly  or  in- 
the  institution  of  slavery  in 
I  believe  I  have  no  lawful 
inclination  to  do  so."  He 
publican  Convention  that 
clared  that  the  rights  of  the 
might  control  their  own  in- 
tained  inviolate,  and  de- 
the  invasion  by  an  armed 
tory,"no  matter  under  what 
these  sentiments  as  his  own ; 
prosperity,  peace,  and  secu- 
be  "in  any  wise  endan- 
Administration,"  and  fur- 
the  Union  should  have  equal 
any. 

cussed  the  political  struc- 
Republic,  showing  that  the 


Union  is  older  than  the  Constitution ;  that  it  is  necessarily  perpetual;  that  there  is  no  inherent  power  in  the 
whole  or  in  part  to  terminate  it,  and  that  the  secession  of  a  State  was  impossible.  Assuming  that  the 
Republic  was  unbroken,  he  declared  that,  to  the  extent  of  his  ability,  he  should  take  care,  as  the  Consti 
tution  required  him  to  do,  that  the  laws  should  be  executed  in  all  the  States,  performing  that  duty  as  far 
as  practicable,  unless  his  "rightful  masters,  the  American  people,"  should  withhold  the  requisite  means, 
or,  in  some  authoritative  manner,  direct  the  contrary.  "I  trust  this  will  not  be  regarded  as  a  menace," 
he  continued,  "but  only  as  the  declared  purpose  of  the  Union  that  it  will  constitutionally  defend  and 
maintain  itself.  In  doing  this,"  he  added,  "there  need  be  no  bloodshed  or  violence;  and  there  shall  be 
none,  unless  it  be  forced  upon  the  National  authority."  He  declared  that  the  power  confided  to  him 
should  be  used  "to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  the  property  and  places  belonging  to  the  Government,  and 
to  collect  the  duties  and  imposts." 

So,  in  a  frank,  generous,  kindly  manner,  did  Mr.  Lincoln  avow  his  determination  to  perform  the 
duties  of  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  nation,  according  to  his  convictions  and  his  ability.  He  had  said  in 
a  speech  at  Trenton,  on  his  way  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia:  "I  shall  do  all  that  may  be  in  my  power 
to  promote  a  peaceful  settlement  of  all  our  difficulties.  The  man  does  not  live  who  is  more  devoted  to 
peace  than  I  am — no  one  who  would  do  more  to  preserve  it;  but  it  may  be  necessary  to  put  the  foot  down 
firmly."  The  Springfield  Journal,  published  at  the  home  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  his  accredited  "organ,"  had 
said  weeks  before:  "If  South  Carolina  violates  the  law  [by  obstructing  the  collection  of  the  revenue],  then 
comes  the  tug  of  war.  The  President  of  the  United  States,  in  such  an  emergency,  has  a  plain  duty  to 
perform.  Mr.  Buchanan  may  shirk  it,  or  the  emergency  may  not  exist  during  his  administration.  If 
not,  then  the  Union  will  last  through  his  term  of  office.  If  the  overt  act,  on  the  part  of  South  Carolina, 
takes  place  on  or  after  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  then  the  duty  of  executing  the  laws  will  devolve  upon 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


BERMUDA  HUNDRED  LANDING 


Mr.  Lincoln."  So  felt  all  the  loyal  people  of  the  land;  and  they  were  strengthened  by  hope,  given  in 
the  promise  of  his  inaugural  address  that  he  should  faithfully  do  his  duty. 

In  that  address,  the  President  also  declared  that  he  should  "endeavor,  by  justice,  to  reconcile  all 
discontents;"  and  he  asked  the  enemies  of  the  Govern 
ment  to  point  to  a  single  instance  where  "any  right, 
plainly  written  in  the  Constitution,"  had  ever  been  de 
nied.  He  then  showed  the  danger  of  the  precedent 
established  by  secession,  for  it  might  lead  to  infinite 
subdivisions  by  discontented  minorities.  "Plainly,"  he 
said,  "the  central  idea  of  secession  is  anarchy."  He  re 
ferred  to  the  impossibility  of  a  dissolution  of  the  Union, 
physically  speaking;  and  contemplating  a  state  of  polit 
ical  separation  of  the  sections,  he  asked,  significantly, 
"Can  treaties  be  more  faithfully  enforced  among  aliens 
than  laws  can  among  friends? "  He  reminded  them  that 
their  respective  territories  must  remain  "face  to  face;" 
that  they  could  not  "fight  always,"  and  that  the  causes 
of  feuds  would  continue  to  exist.  He  begged  his  country 
men  to  take  time  for  serious  deliberation.  ' '  Such  of  you, ' ' 
he  said,  "as  are  now  dissatisfied,  still  have  the  old  Constitu 
tion  unimpaired,  and,  on  the  sensitive  point,  the  laws  of 

your  own  framing  under  it;  while  the  new  Administration  will  have  no  immediate  power,  if  it  would,  to 
change  either.  ...  In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen,  and  not  in  mine,  is  the 
momentous  issue  of  Civil  War.  The  Government  will  not  assail  you.  You  can  have  no  conflict  without 
being  yourselves  the  aggressors.  You  have  no  oath  registered  in  Heaven  to  destroy  the  Government; 
whilst  I  shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  it." 

The  Secessionists  would  listen  to  no  words  of  kindness,  of  justice,  or  of  warning;  they  had  resolved 
to  destroy  the  Union  at  all  hazards;  and  the  prophecy  of  Thomas  H.  Benton,  uttered  in  1857,  was  speedily 
fulfilled.  He  knew  their  schemes,  for  they  had  long  tried  to  enlist  him  in  them.  "So  long  as  the 
people  of  the  North,"  he  said  to  Senator  Wilson,  "shall  be  content  to  attend  to  commerce  and 
manufactures,  and  accept  the  policy  and  rule  of  the  disunionists,  they  will  condescend  to  remain 
in  the  Union ;  but  should  the  Northern  people  attempt  to  exercise  their  just  influence  in  the  nation, 
they  would  attempt  to  seize  the  Government  or  disrupt  the  Union;  but,"  he  said,  with  terrible 
emphasis,  "God  and  their  own  crimes  will  put  them  in  the  hands  of  the  people." 

Mr.  Lincoln  chose  for  his  constitutional  advisers,  Wm.  H. 
Seward  of  New  York,  Secretary  of  State;  Salmon  P.  Chase  of 
Ohio,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  Simon  Cameron  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  Secretary  of  War;  Gideon  Welles  of  Connecticut,  Secretary 
of  the  Navy;  Caleb  Smith  of  Indiana,  Secretary  of  the  Interior; 
Montgomery  Blair  of  Maryland,  Postmaster-General;  and  Ed 
ward  Bates  of  Missouri,  Attorney-General.  With  these  men  Mr. 
Lincoln  began  his  eventful  administration.  With  the  close  of  the 
"Inauguration  Ball,"  the  night  before  these  appointments  were 
made,  ended  the  poetry  of  his  life;  after  that  it  was  all  the  prose 
of  care,  anxiety,  and  incessant  labor  incident  to  the  daily  life  of  a 
conscientious  head  of  a  nation  in  a  state  of  civil  war.  The  plain 
meaning  of  his  inaugural  address  was  distorted  by  the  Confed 
erates  to  inflame  the  minds  of  the  people  in  the  slave-labor  States. 
It  was  misrepresented  and  maligned,  and  the  people  were  bewil 
dered.  Meanwhile  the  President  and  his  cabinet  went  calmly  at 
work  to  ascertain  the  condition  of  the  ship  of  state.  Means  were 
planned  for  replenishing  the  exhausted  Treasury  and  to  strengthen 
the  public  credit.  The  condition  of  the  Army  and  Navy  was  con 
templated  with  great  solicitude,  for  it  was  evident  that  the  Con 
federates  had  resolved  on  war.  Of  the  twenty  forts  in  the  slave- 
labor  States,  all  but  four  had  been  seized  by  them.  Every  arsenal 
there  was  in  their  possession.  The  entire  regular  force  of  the 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL  A.  J.  SLEMMER 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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PONTOON  BRIDGE,  VALLEY  OF  THE  POTOMAC 


IOHN  CAIHN  BKIIXJE  OVER  THE  POTOMAC  RIVKK 


11C 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CITY  OF  CHARLESTON,  S.  C.,  FROM  THE  Top 
OF  MILLS  HOI-SE 


Republic,  in  soldiers,  was  sixteen  thousand  men,  and  these  were  mostly  on  the  Western  frontiers, 
guarding  the  settlers  against  the  Indians;  and  of  this  small  number,  General  David  E.  Twiggs  had 
treacherously  surrendered  between  two  and  three  thousand,  with  munitions  of  war,  into  the  hands  of  the 

Texan  insurgents,  so  early  as  the  middle  of  February. 
The  little  National  navy,  like  the  army,  had  been 
placed  far  beyond  the  reach  of  the  Government,  for  im 
mediate  use.  It  consisted  of  ninety  vessels  of  all  classes, 
but  only  forty-two  were  in  commission.  Twenty-eight, 
carrying  an  aggregate  of  nearly  nine  hundred  guns,  were 
lying  in  ports,  dismantled,  and  could  not  be  made  ready 
for  sea,  some  of  them,  in  several  months.  Most  of  those 
in  commission  had  been  sent  to  distant  seas;  and  the 
entire  available  force  for  the  defence  of  the  whole  Atlantic 
coast  of  the  Republic  was  the  Brooklyn,  25,  and  the  store- 
ship  Relief,  of  two  guns.  The  Brooklyn  drew  too  much 
water  to  enter  Charleston  harbor,  where  war  had  begun, 
with  safety ;  and  the  Relief  had  been  ordered  to  the  coast  of 
Africa  with  stores  for  the  squadron  there.  Many  of  the 
naval  officers  were  born  in  slave-labor  States;  so  also  were 
those  of  the  army ;  and  many  of  both  arms  of  the  service 
deserted  their  flag  at  the  critical  moment,  and  joined  the 
enemies  of  their  Government.  The  amazing  fact  was 
presented  that  Mr.  Buchanan's  Secretaries  of  War  and 
Navy  had  so  disposed  the  available  military  forces  of  the 
Republic  that  it  could  not  command  their  services  at  the 
critical  moment  when  the  hand  of  its  enemy  was  raised  to  destroy  its  life.  The  public  offices  were  swarming 
with  disloyal  men,  and  for  a  full  month  the  President,  knowing  the  importance  of  having  faithful  instru 
ments  to  work  with,  was  engaged  in  relieving  the  Government  of  these  unfaithful  servants.  He  wisely 
strengthened  his  arm  by  calling  to  his  aid  loyal  men,  before  he  ventured  to  strike  a  blow  in  defence  of  the 
threatened  National  authority. 

We  have  observed  that  the  Convention  at  Montgomery  appointed  commissioners  to  treat  with  the 
National  government  upon  matters  of  mutual  interest.  Two  of  these  (John  Forsyth  and  Martin  J. 
Crawford)  arrived  in  Washington  city  on  the  5th  of  March  (1861),  and  asked  for  an  "unofficial  interview" 
with  the  Secretary  of  State.  It  was  declined,  when  they  sent  him  a  sealed  communication  setting  forth 
the  object  of  their  mission  as  representatives  of  "a  government  perfect  in  all  its  parts,  and  endowed  with 
all  the  means  of  self-support,"  and  asking  for  an  opportunity  to  "present  their  credentials"  at  an  early 
day.  This  communication — this  adroit  attempt  to  obtain  a  recognition  of  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Confederate  States  from  the  National  Government — failed.  In  a  "memorandum"  which  he  sent  to 
them,  the  Secretary  referred  to  the  principles  laid  down  in  the  inaugural  address,  and,  like  Mr.  Lincoln,  he 
declared  the  doctrine  that  no  State  as  a  State  had  seceded  or  could  secede,  and  that,  consequently, 
the  "Confederate  States  government  "  had  no  legal  existence.  The  commissioners  remained  more  than 
a  month  in  Washington,  and  then,  after  giving  the  Secretary  (Mr.  Seward)  a  lecture  on  the  theory  of 
government,  they  left  for  home  on  the  day  when  the  South  Carolinians  proceeded  to  attack  Fort  Sumter. 
Among  the  first  questions  that  demanded  the  attention  of  the  new  Administration  was,  "Shall  Fort 
Sumter  be  reinforced  and  supplied "' "  They  were  anxious  for  peace,  and  the  question  was  kept  in  abeyance 
until  late  in'  March,  when  Gustavus  V.  Fox  (.afterward  the  efficient  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy)  was 
sent  to  Charleston  harbor  to  ascertain  the  exact  condition  of  things  there.  He  found  that  Major  Anderson 
had  sufficient  supplies  to  last  him  until  the  uth  of  April,  and  it  was  understood  between  them  that  if  not 
supplied,  he  must  surrender  or  evacuate  the  fort  at  noon  on  that  day.  On  his  return  to  Washington  Mr. 
Fox  reported  to  the  President  that  if  succor  was  to  be  afforded  to  Anderson,  it  must  be  before  the  middle 
of  April.  The  President,  anxious  for  peace,  and  not  to  bring  on  a  collision  with  the  South  Carolina 
insurgents,  had  listened  favorably  to  urgent  advice  to  abandon  Sumter  and  not  precipitate  hostilities. 
The  Virginia  State  Convention  was  then  in  session  considering  the  propriety  of  leaving  the  Union.  Mr. 
Lincoln  sent  for  a  professed  Union  man  in  that  body,  and  said  to  him,  "If  your  Convention  shall  adjourn, 
instead  of  staying  in  session  menacing  the  Government,  I  will  immediately  direct  Major  Anderson  to 
evacuate  Fort  Sumter."  Had  the  Virginia  politicians  wanted  peace,  this  request  would  have  been 
complied  with.  On  the  contrary,  this  professed  Virginia  Unionist  replied,  "Sir,  the  United  States  must 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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"3 

"a 

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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


instantly  evacuate  Fort  Sumter  and  Fort  Pickens,  and  give  assurances  that  no  attempt  will  be  made  to 
collect  revenue  in  the  Southern  ports." 

This  virtual  demand  for  the  President  to  recognize  the  Southern  Confederacy  as  an  independent 
nation  caused  him  to  "put  the  foot  down  firmly."  He  ordered  an  expedition  to  be  sent  to  Charleston 
harbor  immediately,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Fox  (who  had  offered  a  plan  for  such  action),  with  provi 
sions  and  troops  for  Fort  Sumter.  Fox  sailed  from  New  York  with  a  squadron  of  eight  vessels,  on  the 
gth  of  April,  but  only  three  reached  the  vicinity  of  Charleston  harbor,  which  they  could  not  enter  because 
of  a  terrible  storm  that  was  sweeping  over  the  ocean  in  that  region.  While  these  vessels  (the  Baltic, 
carrying  the  troops,  and  the  Pawnee  and  Harriet  Lane)  were  buffeting  the  tempest,  the  insurgents  attacked 
Fort  Sumter  with  bomb-shells  and  solid  shot,  with  great  fury.  For  three  months  after  the  expulsion  of 
the  Star  of  the  West,  Anderson  had  been  kept  in  suspense  by  the  temporizing  policy  of  his  Government. 
He  had  seen  forts  and  batteries  piled  around  Fort  Sumter  for  its  destruction,  and  had  been  compelled  to 
keep  his  own  great  guns  muzzled,  waiting  for  an  attack.  Nearly  all  that  time  he  was  menaced  daily  with 


FORT  PUTNAM,  CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 

hostilities;  abused  by  the  Southern  press;  misrepresented  by  the  Northern  newspapers,  and  yet  was 
forced  to  passively  endure  his  situation  until  his  supplies  were  exhausted.  He  had  sent  away  the  women 
and  children  to  New  York,  in  February,  and  had  calmly  awaited  the  course  of  events. 

Meanwhile  the  leaders  in  the  revolutionary  movement  were  impatient  to  begin  their  destructive 
work.  They  were  vehemently  urging  Virginia  and  other  Border  States  to  openly  and  practically  espouse 
their  cause.  They  feared  the  cooling  effects  of  delay  and  hesitation,  and  anxiously  sought  a  pretext  for 
firing  the  first  gun.  The  crisis  was  reached  on  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  April,  when  President  Lincoln, 
with  the  most  generous  fairness,  telegraphed  to  Governor  Pickens  that  he  was  about  to  send  relief  to 
Fort  Sumter.  .  It  produced  the  most  intense  excitement  in  Charleston.  Beauregard,  who  was  in  command 
of  the  armed  insurgents  there,  sent  the  message  to  Montgomery,  to  which  L.  Pope  Walker,  the 
Confederate  Secretary  of  War,  replied  on  the  loth,  ordering  him  to  demand  the  evacuation  of  the  fort. 
"If  this  is  refused,"  he  said,  "proceed,  in  such  manner  as  you  may  determine,  to  reduce  it."  Beauregard 
replied,  "The  demand  will  be  made  to-morrow." 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


119 


o 

c 
w 

D 

e 
o 
•4 


o 


q 

H 

o 


120 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

Virginians  in  Charleston — A  Cry  for  Blood — Events  in  Charleston — Siege  of  Fort  Sumter — Incidents  of  the  Struggle — Evacuation  of 
the  Fort — Joyful  Feelings  in  Charleston — Gratitude  of  the  Loyal  People  Displayed — Honors  to  Major  Anderson — Attempts  to 
Capture  Fort  Pickens — Honors  to  Lieutenant  Slemmer — President's  Call  for  Troops — Responses  to  the  Call — Uprising  of  the  Loyal 
People — Boastings  of  the  Northern  Press — A  Fatal  Mistake — Interpretations  of  Scripture — Proclamations  and  Counter-Procla 
mations — Privateering  Recommended  to  the  Confederates — Action  of  the  Confederate  Congress — Privateers  Commissioned. 

THE  hesitation  of  Virginia  to  join  the  Confederacy  gave   the   leaders  in  South   Carolina   many 
misgivings  as  to  her  "patriotism;"    but  two  of  her  sons,  who  were  in  Charleston  at  this  crisis, 
gave  them  assurance  of  her  "fidelity  to  the  cause."     These  were  Edmund  Ruffin,  a  gray-haired 
old  man,  and  Roger  A.  Pryor,  a  young  lawyer,  who  had  served  a  term  in  the  National  Congress.     Pryor 
was  serenaded  on  the  evening  of  the  loth  of  April  (1861),  and  in  response  to  the  compliment  he  made  a 
characteristic  speech.     "Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "I  thank  you  especially  that  you  have  at  last  annihilated 
this  cursed  Union,  reeking  with  corruption  and  insolent  with  excess  of  tyranny.     Thank  God  it  is  at  last 


ARMY  HOSPITAL,  NEAR  WASHINGTON 

blasted  and  riven  by  the  lightning  wrath  of  an  outraged  and  indignant  people.  Not  only  is  it  gone,  but 
gone  forever.  .  .  .  Do  not  distrust  Virginia.  As  sure  as  to-morrow's  sun  will  rise  upon  us,  just  so 
sure  will  Virginia  be  a  member  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.  And  I  will  tell  you,  gentlemen,"  said  Mr. 
Pryor  with  great  vehemence  of  manner,  "what  will  put  her  in  the  Southern  Confederacy  in  less  than  an 
hour  by  Shrewsbury  clock — strike  a  blow!  The  very  moment  that  blood  is  shed,  old  Virginia  will  make 
common  cause  with  her  sisters  of  the  South." 

This  cry  for  blood  was  telegraphed  to  Montgomery,  when  a  member  of  the  Alabama  Legislature 
(Mr.  Gilchrist)  said  to  Davis  and  his  cabinet:  "Gentlemen,  unless  you  sprinkle  blood  in  the  faces  of  the 
people  of  Alabama,  they  will  be  back  in  the  old  Union  in  less  than  ten  days."  Beauregard  was  at  once 
ordered  to  shed  blood  if  necessary,  and  so  "fire  the  Southern  heart."  That  officer  sent  a  deputation  to 
Major  Anderson  to  demand  the  immediate  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter.  The  supplies  for  the  garrison  were 
nearly  exhausted,  and  Anderson  replied :  "I  will  evacuate  the  fort  in  five  days  if  I  do  not  receive  controlling 
instructions  from  my  Government."  Davis  knew  better  than  Anderson  that  vessels  were  on  their  way 
with  supplies  for  the  fort,  and  he  instructed  Beauregard  to  act  accordingly.  So,  at  a  little  past  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  i2th  of  April,  that  officer  announced  to  Anderson,  that  within  one  hour 
the  batteries,  which  then  formed  a  semi-circle  around  Sumter,  would  open  upon  the  fort.  The  military 
in  Charleston  had  been  summoned  to  their  posts  early  in  the  evening,  in  anticipation  of  this  movement, 
and  a  call  was  made  by  telegraph  to  the  surrounding  country  to  send  four  thousand  men  into  the  city. 

At  the  appointed  hour  the  heavy  booming  of  a  cannon  on  James  Island  awakened  the  sleepers  in 
Charleston,  and  the  streets  were  soon  thronrcd  with  people.  From  the  broad  throat  of  a  mortar  a  fiery 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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VIEWS  OF  BKAUFORT,  PORT  ROYAL,  HII.TONS  HEAD,  S.  C. 


122 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


bomb-shell  sped  through  the  black  night  and  exploded  over  Sumter.  After  a  brief  pause,  another  heavy 
gun  at  Cumming's  point,  on  Morris  Island,  sent  a  large  round-shot  that  struck  against  the  granite  wall 
of  the  fort  with  fearful  force.  That  gun  was  fired  by  the  white-haired  Virginian  (Ruffin),who  had  begged 
the  privilege  of  firing  the  first  shot  against  Sumter.  He  boasted  of  the  deed  so  long  as  he  lived.  In  the 
early  summer  of  1865,  when  he  was  over  seventy  years  of  age,  he  deliberately  blew  off  the  top  of  his  head 
with  his  gun,  declaring  in  a  note  which  he  left — "I  cannot  survive  the  liberties  of  my  country."  His 
shot  was  followed  by  a  tempest  of  shells  and  balls  from  full  thirty  cannons  and  mortars  which  opened  at 
once  upon  the  fort,  but  which  elicited  no  response  until  about  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Then,  by 
a  judicious  arrangement  of  the  little  garrison,  the  great  guns  of  Sumter  were  enabled  to  play  upon  all  the 
hostile  batteries  at  the  same  time,  under  the  skillful  directions  of  Captain  Doubleday,  Surgeon  Crawford, 
and  Lieutenant  Snyder.  Doubleday  and  Crawford  afterward  became  distinguished  major-generals.  But 

it  was  evident,  after 
four  hours  of  hard 
and  skillful  labor  at 
the  guns,  that  Fort 
Sumter  could  not 
seriously  injure  the 
works  opposed  to 
it.  On  Cumming's 
Point  was  an  iron- 
plated  battery  that 
was  absolutely  in 
vulnerable  to  mis 
siles  hurled  upon  it 
from  Fort  Sumter. 

A 'fearful  contest 
had  now  begun.  The 
walls  and  parapets 
of  the  fort  were 
soon  shattered ;  its 
barbette  guns  were 
dismounted,  and  its 
barracks  and  offi 
cers'  quarters  were 
set  on  fire.  News  of 
the  relief  squadron 
had  reachd  the  gar 
rison,  and  Surgeon 
Crawford  bravely 
ascended  to  the  par 
apet  to  look  for  it.  He  distinctly  saw  the  three  ships  struggling  with  the  storm  outside  the  bar.  Their 
near  presence  nerved  the  hearts  and  muscles  of  the  soldiers,  but  their  hopes  were  vain.  The  little 
squadron  was  compelled  to  leave  the  band  of  brave  men  in  Sumter  without  relief. 

All  that  day  the  assault  continued,  and  all  that  night,  which  was  dark  and  stormy,  a  sluggish  bom 
bardment  of  the  fort  was  kept  up;  and  when,  on  the  following  morning  (April  13,  1861),  on  which  the 
sun  rose  in  unclouded  splendor,  it  was  renewed  with  increased  vigor,  the  wearied  garrison  of  not  more 
than  seventy  men  found  their  supplies  almost  exhausted.  In  three  days  they  must  be  starved  out.  On 
that  morning  the  last  parcel  of  rice  had  been  cooked,  and  nothing  but  salted  pork  was  left  to  be  eaten. 
Red-hot  shot  were  making  havoc  among  the  wooden  structures  of  the  fort.  The  flames  spread, 
and  the  heat  was  intolerable.  The  fire  threatened  the  magazine,  and  ninety  barrels  of  powder 
were  rolled  into  the  sea.  The  smoke  and  heat  were  so  stifling  that  the  men  were  often  compelled 
to  lie  upon  the  ground  with  wet  cloths  over  their  faces  to  enable  them  to  breathe.  The  old  flag  was 
kept  flying  until  a  shot  cut  its  staff,  and  it  fell  to  the  ground  at  a  little  past  noon.  It  was  caught 
up,  carried  to  the  ramparts,  and  there  replanted  by  Sergeant  Peter  Hart,  Major  Anderson's 
faithful  servant  and  friend. 

When  the  flag  of  Sumter  fell,  the  insurgents  shouted,  for  they  regarded  its  downfall  as  a  token  of 
submission.  A  boat  instantly  shot  out  from  Cumming's  Point,  bearing  an  officer  who  held  a  white 


LT.  JOHN  C.  DAVIS 

ASST.  SURGEON  S.  W.  CRAWFORD 


CAPT.  ABNER  DOUBLEDAY 


CAPT    J.  G.  FOSTER 
LT.  TRUMAN  SEYMOUR 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


123 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


handkerchief  on  the  point  of  his  sword  as  a  flag  of  truce.  He  landed  at  the  wharf  at  Fort  Sumter,  and, 
hurrying  to  the  nearest  port-hole,  begged  a  soldier  to  let  him  in.  The  faithful  man  refused.  "I  am 
General  Wigfall,  of  Beauregard's  staff,  and  want  to  see  Major  Anderson!"  he  cried.  The  soldier  said, 
"Stand  there  until  I  can  call  the  commander."  "For  God's  sake,"  cried  Wigfall,  "let  me  in!  I  can't 
stand  out  here  in  the  firing."  He  ran  around  to  the  sallyport,  but  was  there  confronted  by  its  blazing 
ruins.  Then  the  poor  fellow,  half  dead  with  fright,  ran  around  the  fort  waving  his  white  handkerchief 


MONITOR  IN  TRENT'S  REACH,  JAMES  RIVER,  1861 

toward  his  fellow-insurgents,  to  prevent  their  firing;  but  it  was  in  vain.  At  last,  out  of  sheer  pity,  he 
was  allowed  to  crawl  into  a  port-hole,  after  giving  up  his  sword,  where  he  was  met  by  some  of  the  officers 
of  the  fort.  He  told  them  who  he  was;  that  he  had  been  sent  by  Beauregard  to  stop  the  firing,  and 
begged  them  piteously  to  raise  a  white  flag.  "You  are  on  fire,"  he  said,  "and  your  flag  is  down."  He 
was  interrupted  by  one  of  the  officers,  who  said,  "Our  flag  is  not  down,"  and  Wigfall  saw  it  where  Peter 
Hart  had  replaced  it.  "Well,  well,"  he  said,  "I  want  to  stop  this."  Holding  out  his  sword  and  hand 
kerchief,  he  said  to  one  of  the  officers,  "Will  you  hoist  this?"  "No,  sir,"  was  the  reply;  "it  is  for  you, 
General  Wigfall,  to  stop  them."  "Will  any  of  you  hold  this  out  of  the  embrasure?"  he  asked.  No  one 
offering  the  service,  he  said,  "May  I  hold  it  there?"  "If  you  wish  to,"  was  the  cool  reply.  Wigfall 
sprang  into  the  embrasure  and  waved  the  handkerchief  several  times,  when  a  shot  striking  near  him,  he 
scampered  away.  He  then  begged  some  one  else  to  hold  it  for  him.  At  length  consent  was  given  to  hoist 
a  white  flag  over  the  ramparts,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  holding  a  conference  with  Major  Anderson,  who 
was  sent  for.  Wigfall  repeated  his  false  story  that  he  had  come  from  Beauregard,  and  on  assuring  Anderson 
that  the  latter  acceded  to  the  major's  terms — the  evacuation  of  the  fort  on  the  i5th — that  officer  allowed 
the  white  flag  to  be  hoisted,  and  Wigfall  left.  Seeing  this,  a  deputation  came  from  Beauregard,  who 
informed  the  commander  of  the  fort  that  Wigfall  had  not  seen  their  chief  in  two  days.  Indignant  because 
of  the  foul  deception,  Anderson  declared  the  white  flag  should  immediately  come  down,  but  he  was 
persuaded  to  leave  it  until  a  conference  could  be  held  with  Beauregard.  Wigfall  was  a  National  Senator 
from  Texas,  and  was  one  of  the  most  insolent  and  boastful  men  on  the  floor  of  Congress.  Soon  after  this 
ridiculous  display  of  his  mendacity  and  cowardice,  he  disappeared  from  public  life,  shorn  of  the  confidence 
and  respect  of  his  more  honorable  associates.  He  was  on  Jefferson  Davis's  staff  for  a  while. 

The  conference  with  Beauregard  resulted  in  an  arrangement  for  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter ;  and 
on  Sunday,  the  i4th  of  April,  1861,  the  little  garrison,  with  their  private  property,  went  on  board  a  small 
steamboat  that  took  them  to  the  Baltic  that  lingered  outside  the  bar,  in  which  they  were  conveyed  to 
New  York.  Major  Anderson  evacuated  the  fort,  but  did  not  surrender  it;  and  he  carried  away  with  him 
the  garrison  flag,  which,  just  four  years  afterward,  tattered  and  torn,  was  again  raised  by  the  hands  of 
that  gallant  officer  (then  a  major-general)  over  all  that  remained  of  Fort  Sumter — a  heap  of  ruins. 

Governor  Pickens  had  watched  the  bombardment  of  the  fort  on  Saturday  with  a  telescope,  and  that 
evening  he  addressed  the  excited  multitude  in  Charleston,  saying:  "Thank  God  the  war  is  open,  and 


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GENERAL  VIEWS  OF  CULPEPPER,  AUGUST,  1862 


126 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


we  will  conquer  or  perish.  .  .  .  We  have  humbled 
the  flag  of  the  United  States.  I  can  here  say  to  you, 
it  is  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  this  country  that 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  have  been  humbled.  That  proud 
flag  was  never  lowered  before  to  any  nation  on  the 
earth.  It  has  triumphed  for  seventy  years;  but  to-day, 
the  1 3th  of  April,  it  has  been  humbled,  and  humbled  before 
the  glorious  little  State  of  South  Carolina."  On  the  fol 
lowing  day,  the  holy  Sabbath,  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter  was 
commemorated  in  the  churches  of  Charleston.  The  ven 
erable  bishop  of  the  diocese  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
church  was  led  by  the  rector  of  St.  Philip's  to  the  sacred 
desk,  where  he  addressed  a  few  words  to  the  people. 
Speaking  of  the  battle,  he  said,  "Your  boys  were  there, 
and  mine  were  there,  and  it  was  right  they  should  be 
there."  Bishop  Lynch,  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church, 
spoke  exultingly  of  the  result  of  the  conflict;  and  a  Te 
Deum  was  chanted  in  commemoration  of  the  event  in  the 
cathedral  of  St.  John  and  St.  Finbar,  where  he  was 
officiating. 

The  loyal  people  of  the  free-labor  States  were  loud  in 
their  praises  of  Major  Anderson  and  his  men  for  their  gal 
lant  defence  of  the  fort ;  and  their  gratitude  was  shown  by 
substantial  tokens.  The  citizens  of  Taunton,  Massachu- 

setts,  and  of  Philadelphia,  each  presented  Major  Anderson 

COLON-FL  BRAXTON  BRAGG,  C.S. A.,  LATER  MAJOR-GENERAL    with  an  elegant  sword,  richly  ornamented.     The  citizens  of 

New  York  presented  a  beautiful  gold  medal,   and  the 

authorities  of  that  city  gave  him  the  freedom  of  the  corporation  in  an  elegant  gold  box.  The  Chamber  of 
Commerce  caused  a  series  of  medals  to  be  struck  in  commemoration  of  the  defence,  to  be  presented  to  Major 
Anderson  and  his  whole  command;  and  from  legislative  bodies  and  other  sources  he  received  pleasing 
testimonials.  Better 
than  all,  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United 
States  gave  the  ma 
jor,  by  commission, 
the  rank  and  pay  of 
a  brigadier-general 
in  the  army. 

While  hostili 
ties  against  Fort 
Sumter  were  occur 
ring,  movements 
were  made  for  the 
capture  of  strong 
Fort  Pickens,  on 
Santa  Rosa  Island, 
commanding  the 
entrance  to  the  har 
bor  of  Pensacola,  in 
Florida.  Near  it 
were  two  inferior 
forts  (Fort  Barran 
cas,  built  by  the 
Spaniards,  and 
Fort  McRee) ;  and 
near  Pensacola  was 
a  navy -yard.  CONFEDERATE  DEAD  IN  THE  TRENCHES  AND  OTHER  VIEWS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


127 


128 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHRONOLOGICAL  SUMMARY  AND  RECORD— Continued 


MAY,  1862 — Continued  from  Section  3 

15 — Linden,   Va.     One   Co.   of  28th  Pa.      Union    I   killed,   3  wounded,    14 

missing. 

-  Fort  Darling,  James  River,  Va.  U.  S.  Gunboats  Galena,  Port  Royal, 
Nougntuck,  Monitor  and  Aroostook.  Union  12  killed,  14  wounded. 
Confed.  1  killed,  8  wounded. 

Chalk  Bluffs,  Mo.      1st  Wis.  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  3  wounded. 
Butler,  Bates  Co.,  Mo.      1st  Iowa  Cav.      Union  3  killed,  1  wounded. 
15,  16  and  18— Princeton,  W.  Va.      Gen.  J.   D.   Cox's  Division.      Union  30 

killed,  70  wounded.      Confed.  2  killed,  14  wounded. 
17 — In  front  of  Corinth,  Miss.      Brig. -Gen.   M.  L.  Smith's  Brigade.      Union 

10  killed,  31  wounded.     Confed.  12  killed. 

19 — Searcy  Landing,  Ark.      Detachments  of  3d  and  17th  Mo.  and  4th  Mo. 
Cav.,  Battery  B  1st  Mo.  Light  Artil.      Union  18  killed,  27  wounded. 
Confed.  150  killed,  wounded  and  missing. 
Clinton,  X.  C.      Union  5  wpunded.     Confed.  9  killed. 

21 — Phillip's  Creek,  Miss.     2d  Div.  Army  of  Tennessee.      Union  3  wounded. 
22 — Florida,  Mo.      Detachment  3d  Iowa  Cav.      Union  2  wounded. 

Near  New  Berne,  X.  C.     Co.  I  17th  Mass.      Union  3  killed,  8  wounded. 
23 — Lewisburg,  Va.     36th  and  44th  Ohio,  2d  W.  Va.  Cav.     Union  14  killed, 

60  wounded.      Confed.  40  killed,  66  wounded,  100  captured. 
Front  Royal,  Va.      1st  Md.,  Detachments  of  29th  Pa.,  Capt.   Mapes* 
Pioneers,  nth   N.  Y.   Cav.,  and   1st  Pa.   Artil.      Union  32  killed,    122 
wounded,  750  missing. 
Buckton  Station,  Va.     3d  Wis.,  27th  Ind.      Union  2  killed,  6  wounded. 

Confed.  12  killed. 

Ft.  Craig,  New  Mex.     3d  U.  S.  Cav.      Union  3  wounded. 
34 — New  Bridge,  Va.      4th  Mich.      Union  1  killed,  10  wounded.      Confed.  GO 

killed  and  wounded,  27  captured. 
Chickahominy,  Va.      Davidson's  Brigade  of  4th  Corp*s.      Union  2  killed, 

4  wounded. 

35 — Winchester,  Va.     2d  Mass.,  29th  and  46th  Pa.,  27th  Ind.,  3d  Wis.,  28th 
N.  Y.,  5th  Conn.,  Battery  M  1st  N.  Y.  Artil.,  1st  Vt.  Cav.,  1st  Mich. 
Cav.,  5th  N.  Y.  Cav.      Union  38  killed,  155  wounded,  711  missing. 
27— Hanover  C.  H.,  Va.      12th,  13th.  14th,  17th.  25th  and  44th  N.  Y.,  62d 
and  83d  Pa.,   10th  Mich.,  9th  and  22d   Mass.,  5th  Mass.  Artil.,  2d 
Maine  Artil.,  Battery  F  5th  U.  S.  Artil.,   1st  U.  S.  Sharpshooters. 
Union   53  killed,   344  wounded.     Confed.   200  killed  and  wounded, 
730  prisoners. 
Big  Indian  Creek,  near  Searcy  Landing,  Ark.      1st  Mo.  Cav.      Union 

3  wounded.     Confed,  5  killed,  25  wounded. 
Osceola,  Mo.      1st  Iowa  Cav.      Union  3  killed,  2  wounded. 
28 — Wardensville,   Va.     3d    Md.,    Potomac   Home   Brigade,   3d   Ind.    Cav. 

Confed.  2  killed,  3  wounded. 
29 — Pocataligo,  S.   C.     50th  Pa..  79th  N.  Y.,  8th   Mich.,   1st   Mass.   Cav. 

Union  2  killed,  9  wounded. 

30 — Booneville,  Miss.    2d  Iowa  Cav.,  2d  Mich.  Cav.    Confed.  2,000  prisoners. 
Front  Royal,  Va.      1st  R.  I.  Cav.      Union  5  killed,  8  wounded.      Confed. 

156  captured. 
Sl—Neosho.  Mo.      10th  111.  Cav..  14th  Mo.  Cav.  (Militia).      Union  2  killed, 

3  wounded. 
Near  Washington,  N,  C.     3d  N.  Y.  Cav.      Union  1  wounded.     Confed. 

3  killed,  2  wounded. 

31  and  June  1 — Seven  Pines  and  Fair  Oaks,  Va.  2d  Corps,  3d  Corps  and 
4th  Corps,  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Union  890  killed,  3,627  wounded, 
1,222  missing.  Confed.  2.800  killed,  3,897  wounded.  1,300  missing. 
Union  Brig. -Gen 'Is  O.  O.  Howard,  Xaglee,  and  Wessells  wounded. 
Confed.  Brig. -Gen.  Hatton  killed.  Gen.  J.  E.  Johnson  and  Brig. -Gen. 
Rhodes  wounded,  Brig. -Gen.  Pettigrew  captured. 

JUNE,  1862 

1  and  2 — Strasburg  and  Staunton  Road,  Va.     8th  W.  Va.,  60th  Ohio.  1st 

N.  J.  Cav.,  1st  Pa.  Cav.      Union  2  wounded. 

3— Legare's  Point.  S.  C.     28th  Mass.,  100th  Pa.      Union  5  wounded. 
4 — Jasper,  Sweden's  Cove,  Tenn.     79th  Pa.,  5th  Ky.  Cav.,  7th  Pa.  Cav.. 
1st  Ohio  Battery.      Union  2  killed,  7  wounded.      Confed.  20  killed,  20 
wounded. 
Blackland,   Miss.     2d  Iowa  Cav.,  2d  Mich.  Cav.      Union  5  killed,   14 

wounded. 
5— Tranter's  Creek,  N.  C.     24th  Mass..  Co.  I  3d  N.  Y.  Cav.,  Marine  Artii. 

Union  7  killed,  11  wounded. 

6 — Memphis,  Tenn.  U.  S.  Gunboats  Benton,  Louisville,  Carondelet.  Cairo, 
and  St.  Louis;  and  Rams  Monarch  and  Queen  of  the  West.  Confed.  80 
killed  and  wounded,  100  captured. 

Harrisonburg.  Va.  1st  N.  J.  Cav..  1st  Pa.  Rifles,  6th  Ohio,  8th  W.  Va. 
Union  .63  missing.  Confed.  17  killed,  50  wounded.  Confed.  Gen. 
Ashby  killed. 

8— Cross  Keys  or  Union  Church,  Va.  8th,  39th,  41st,  45th,  54th  and  58th 
X.  Y.,  2d.  3d,  5th  and  8th  W.  Va.,  25th,  32d,  55th,  00th,  73d,  75th  and 
82d  Ohio,  1st  and  27th  Pa.,  1st  Ohio  Battery.  Union  125  killed,  500 
wounded.  Confed.  42  killed,  230  wounded.  Confed.  Brig. -Gens. 
Stewart  and  Elzey  wounded. 

9— Port  Republic,  Va.     5th,  7th,  29th  and  66th  Ohio,  84th  and  110th  Pa.. 

7th  Ind.,  1st  W.  Va.,  Batteries  E  4th  U.  S.  and  A  and  L  1st  Ohio  Artil. 

Union  67  killed.  361  wounded,  574  missing.      Confed.  88  killed,  535 

wounded,  34  missing. 

10 — James  Island,  S.  C.      Union  3  killed.  13  wounded.     Confed.  17  killed,  30 

wounded. 
11 — Monterey,  Owen  Co.,  Ky.     Capt.  Blood's  Mounted  Provost  Guard,  13th 

Ind.  Battery.      Union  2  killed.     Confed.   100  captured. 
12 — Waddelt's  Farm,  near  Village  Creek,  Ark.     Detachment  of  9th  111.  Cav. 

Union  12  wounded.      Confed.  28  killed  and  wounded. 
13- -Old  Church,  Va.      5th  U.  S.  Cav.      Confed.  1  killed. 

Tames  Island.  S.  C.  Union  3  killed,  19  wounded.  Confed.  19  killed. 
6  wounded. 


14 — Turnstall  Station,  Va.      Union  4  killed,  8  wounded.      Bushwackers  fire 

into  railway  train. 

16 — Secessionville  or  Fort  Johnson,  James  Island,  S.  C.      46th,  47th  and  79th 

X.  Y.,  3d  R.  I..  3d  X.  H.,  45th,  97th  and  100th  Pa.,  6th  and  7th  Conn., 

8th  Mich.,  28th  Mass.,  1st  X.  Y.  Engineers,  1st  Conn.  Artil.,  Battery 

E  3d  U.  S.  and  I  3d  R.  I.  Artil.,  Co.  H  1st  Mass.    Cav.      Union  85 

killed,  472  wounded.  138  missing.     Confed.  51  killed,  144  wounded. 

17— St.  Charles,  White  River,  Ark.     43d  and  46th  Ind.,     U.  S.  Gunboats 

Lexington,  Mound  City,  Conesto>>a  and  St.   Louis.      Union  105  killed, 

30  wounded.      Confed.  155  killed,  wounded  and  captured. 

Warrensburg,  Mo.     7th  Mo.  Cav.  (Militia).     Union  2  killed,  2  wounded. 

Smithville,  Ark.      Union  2  killed,  4  wounded.      Confed.  4  wounded,   15 

prisoners. 
18 — Williamsburg    Road,    Va.      16th    Mass.      Union   7   killed.    57   wounded. 

Confed.  5  killed,  9  wounded. 

21— Battle  Creek,  Tenn.  2d  and  33d  Ohio,  10th  Wis.,  24th  111..  4th  Ohio 
Cav.,  4th  Ky.  Cav.,  and  Edgarton's  Battery.  Union  4  killed,  3 
wounded. 

22 — Raceland,  near  Algiers,  La.     8th  Vt.      Union  3  killed,  S  wounded. 
23 — Raytown,  Mo.     7th  Mo.  Cav.      Union  1  killed.  1  wounded. 
25 — Oak   Grove,   Va..   also  called   Kings  School    House  and   The   Orchards. 
Hooker's  and  Kearney's  Divisions  of  the  Third  Corps,  Palmer's  Brigade 
of  the  Fourth  Corps,  and  part  of  Richardson's  Division  of  the  Second 
Corps.      Union  51  killed,  401  wounded,  6-1  missing.      Confed.  05  killed, 
405  wounded,  11  missing. 

Germantown,  Tenn.      56th  Ohio.      Union  10  killed. 
Little  Red  River,  Ark.     4th  Iowa  Cav.      Union  2  wounded. 
26  to  29— Vicksburg,   Miss.     U.  S.  Fleet,  under  command  of  Commodore 

Farragut.      No  casualties  recorded. 

26  to  July  1 — The  Seven  Days'  Retreat.  Army  of  the  Potomac,  Maj.-Gen. 
Geo.  B.  McClellan  commanding,  including  engagements  known  as 
Mechanicsville  or  Ellison's  Mills  on  the  26th,  Games'  Mills  or  Cold 
Harbor  and  Chickahominy  on  the  27th,  Peach  Orchard  and  Savage 
Station  on  the  29th,  White  Oak  Swamp,  also  called  Charles  City 
Cross  Roads,  Glendale,  Nelson's  Farm,  Frazier's  Farm,  Turkey  Bend 
and  New  Market  Cross  Roads  on  the  30th  and  Malvern  Hill  on 
July  1st. 
Union— First  Corps,  Brig.-Gen.  McCall's  Div.,  253  killed,  1,240 

wounded,  1,581  missing. 
Second  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  E.  V.  Sumner,  187  killed,  1076  wounded, 

848  missing. 
Third    Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Heintzleman,    J89  killed,   1,051   wounded, 

833  missing. 
Fourth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  E.  D.  Keyes,  69  killed,  507  wounded,  201 

missing. 
Fifth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Fitz-John  Porter,  620  killed.  2.460  wounded, 

1,198  missing. 
Sixth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Franklin,  245  killed.  1,313  wounded.    1,179 

missing. 

Cavalry,  Brig.-Gen.  Stoneman,  19  killed,  60  wounded,  97  missing. 
Engineers'  Corps,  2  wounded,  21  missing. 
Total,   1,582  killed,  7,709  wounded.  5,958  missing. 
(Maj.-Gen.    Sumner   and    Brig. -Gens.    Mead,    Brook    and    Burns, 

wounded.) 
Confed.— Maj.-Gen.  Hager's  Division.  187  killed,  803  wounded,  360 

missing: 
Maj.-Gen.    Magruder's    Division,   258   killed,    1,495   wounded,   30 

missing. 
Maj.-Gen.   Longstreet's  Division,  763  killed,  3,929  wounded,  239 

missing. 

Maj.Gen.  Hill's  Division,  019  killed,  3,251  wounded. 
Maj.-Gen.    Jackson's     Division,    900    killed,    4,417    wounded,    63 

missing. 

Maj.-Gen.  Holmes'  Division,  2  killed,  52  wounded. 
Maj.-Gen.  Stuart's  Cavalry,   15  killed,  30  wounded,  60  missing. 
Artillery,  Brig.-Gen.  Pendleton,   10  killed,  34  wounded. 
Total,  2,820  killed,  14,011  wounded,  752  missing. 
Brig. -Gens.  Griffith,  killed,  and  Anderson,  Featherstone  and  Pender 

wounded. 
27 — Williams  Bridge.  Amite  River,  La.    21st  Ind.    Union  2  killed,  4  wounded, 

Confed.  4  killed. 

Village  Creek,  Ark.     9th  111.  Cav.      Union  2  killed,  30  wounded. 
Waddell's    Farm,    Ark.      Detachment    3d    Iowa  Cav.      Union  4    killed, 

4  wounded. 
29 — Willis  Church,  Va.      Cavalry  advance  of  Casey's  Division,  Fourth  Corps. 

Confed.  2  killed,  15  wounded,  46  captured. 

30 — Luray,  Va.  Detachment  of  Cavalry  of  Brig.-Gen.  Crawford's  Com 
mand.  Union  1  killed,  3  wounded. 

JULY,   1862 

1— Boonville,  Miss.     2d  Iowa  Cav.,  2d  Mich.  Cav.      Union  45  killed  and 

wounded.      Confed.  17  killed,  65  wounded. 
Morning    Sun,    Tenn.     57th    Ohio.      Union    4    wounded.     Confed.    11 

killed,  20  wounded. 
3— Haxals  or  Elvington  Heights,  Va.      14th  Ind.,  7th  W.  Va.,  4th  and  8th 

Ohio.      Union  8  killed,  32  wounded.     Confed,  100  killed  and  wounded. 
6 — Grand    Prairie,   near   Aberdeen,    Ark.      24th    Ind.      Union    1    killed,    21 

wounded.      Confed.  84  killed  and  wounded. 
7 — Bayou  Cache,  also  called  Cotton  Plant,  Round  Hill,  Hill's  Plantation 

and  Bayou  de  View,     llth  Wis.,  33d  111.,  8th  Ind.,  1st  Mo.  Light  Artil., 

1st  Ind.  Cav.,  5th  and   13th   111.  Cav.      Union  7  killed,  57  wounded. 

Confrd.  110  killed,  200  wounded. 

8 — Black  River,  Mo.     5th  Kan.  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  3  wounded. 
9— Hamilton,  X".  C.      9th  X'.  Y.  and  Gunboats  Perry,  Ceres  and  Shawseen. 

Union  1  killed,  20  wounded. 

Aberdeen.  Ark.    24th,  34th,  43d  and  40th  Ind.    Casualties  not  recorded. 
Tompkinsville,  Ky.      3d  Pa.  Cav.      Union  4  killed,  6  wounded.      Confed. 

10  killed  and  wounded. 

(Continued  in  Section  5) 


HOOKER        AT        C  H  A  N  C  E  L  L  O  R  S  V  I  L  L  E  ,        MAY        3,        1863 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


129 


S1 


130 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    TIM  R 


CHAPTER   VIII.— Continued 

THE  military  works  were  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Adam  Slemmer,  and  the  naval  establishment  was 
under  Commodore  Armstrong.     Slcmmcr  was  informed  that  an  attempt  to  seize  the  military  works 
would  be  made  as  soon  as  the  Florida  politicians  should  declare  the  secession  of  that  State;  and  he  took 
measures  accordingly.     Perceiving  it  to  be  impossible  to  hold  all  the  works  with  his  small  garrison,  he, 

like  Major  Anderson,  abandoned  the  weaker  ones  and  transferred 
his  people  and  supplies  to  the  stronger  Fort  Pickens.  That  was 
on  the  zoth  of  January,  1861,  the  day  on  which  the  Florida  Con 
vention  passed  the  Ordinance  of  Secession.  On  the  same  morn 
ing,  about  five  hundred  insurgents  of  Florida,  Alabama,  and 
Mississippi  appeared  at  the  gate  of  the  navy-yard  and  demanded 
its  surrender.  Armstrong  was  powerless,  for  three-fourths  of  the 
sixty  officers  under  his  command  were  disloyal.  Commander 
Farrand  was  actually  among  the  insurgents  who  demanded  the 
surrender,  and  Flag-Officer  Renshaw  immediately  ordered  the 
National  standard  to  be  pulled  down.  The  post,  with  ordnance 
stores  valued  at  $156,000,  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  authorities 
of  Florida ;  and  Forts  Barrancas  and  McRee  were  taken  possession 
of  by  the  insurgents. 

Lieutenant  Slemmer,  deprived  of  the  promised  aid  of  the 
naval  establishment,  was  now  left  to  his  own  resources.  The  fort 
was  one  of  the  strongest  on  the  Gulf  Coast.  There  were  fifty-four 
guns  in  position,  and  provisions  for  five  months  within  it ;  but  the 
garrison  consisted  of  only  eighty-one  officers  and  men. 

Two  days  after  the  seizure  of  the  navy-yard  near  Pensacola, 
a  demand  was  made  by  insurgent  leaders  for  the  surrender  of  Fort 
Pickens.  Lieutenant  Slemmer  refused  compliance.  Three  days 


MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  E.  WOOL 


later  (January  15)  Colonel  W.  H.  Chase  of  Massachusetts,  who  was  in  command  of  all  the  insurgents  in 
that  region,  obtained  an  interview  with  Slemmer,  and  tried  to  persuade  him  to  "avoid  bloodshed"  by 
quietly  surrendering  the  fort,  saying  in  conclusion:  "Consider  this  well,  and  take  care  that  you  will  so 
act  as  to  have  no  fearful  recollections  of  a  tragedy  that  you  might  have  avoided ;  but  rather  to  make  the 
present  moment  one  of  the  most  glorious,  because  Christian-like, 
of  your  life."  The  wily  serpent  could  not  seduce  the  patriot,  and 
Slemmer  did  make  that  a  glorious  moment  of  his  life  by  refusing 
to  give  up  the  fort.  On  the  i8th,  another  demand  was  made  for 
the  surrender  of  the  fort  and  refused,  and  a  siege  of  that  stronghold 
was  begun. 

The  number  of  insurgents  at  Pensacola  rapidly  increased,  and 
the  new  Administration  resolved  to  send  relief  to  Fort  Pickens. 
A  small  squadron  was  dispatched  from  New  York  for  the  purpose ; 
and  Lieutenant  J.  L.  Worden  of  the  navy  was  sent  overland  to 
Pensacola,  with  orders  to  Captain  Adams,  in  command  of  some 
vessels  off  Fort  Pickens,  to  throw  reinforcements  into  that  work 
immediately.  Worden  reached  Pensacola  on  the  loth  of  April, 
where  Colonel  Braxton  Bragg  was  in  chief  command  of  the  Con 
federates.  .  He  had  observed  great  excitement  and  preparations 
for  war  on  his  journey,  and  fearing  arrest,  Worden  had  made  him 
self  well  acquainted  with  the  contents  of  the  despatches,  and  then 
tore  them  up.  He  frankly  told  Bragg  that  he  was  sent  by  his 
Government  with  orders  to  Captain  Adams,  and  that  they  were 
not  written,  but  oral.  That  officer  gave  the  lieutenant  a  pass  for 
his  destination.  His  message  was  timely  delivered,  for  Bragg  was 


MAJOR-GENERAL  BENJAMIN  P.  BUTLER 


XOTE — EXPLANATION"  OF  COLORED  FRONTISPIECE — HOOKER  AT  CHANCELLORSVILLE — General  Hooker  had  his  headquarters  at  the 
Chancellor  House.  He  says  in  his  own  words  in  the  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War":  "I  was  standing  on  the  steps  of  the  portico  on  Sunday  morning, 
the  third  of  May,  and  was  giving  direction  to  the  battle  which  was  now  raging  with  great  fury,  the  cannon  balls  reaching  me  from  both  east  and  west,  when  a 
solid  shot  struck  the  pillar  near  me,  splitting  it  in  two,  and  throwing  one-half  longitudinally  against  me.  For  a  few  moments  I  was  senseless,  and  the  report 
spread  that  I  had  been  killed,  but  I  soon  revived,  and  to  correct  the  misapprehension  I  insisted  upon  being  lifted  upon  my  horse," — ami,  riding  along  the  line, 
he  allowed  the  troops  to  see  him,  and  they  are  cheering  him  as  he  rides  by. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


131 


COMPANY  OF  INDIANA  VOLUNTEERS 


COMPANY  OF  INDIANA  VOLUNTEERS  FROM  BROKEN  BRADY  NEGATIVE 


132 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


on  the  point  of  attacking  the  fort.  The  reinforcements  were  thrown  in,  and  the  plan  was  foiled.  Worden 
returned  to  Pensacola,  and  was  permitted  to  take  the  cars  for  Montgomery,  Alabama,  when  Bragg  was 
informed  by  a  spy  that  Fort  Pickens  had  been  reinforced.  Mortified  by  his  stupid  blunder  in  allowing 

Worden  to  pass  to  and  from  the  squadron,  he  violated  truth  and 
honor  by  telegraphing  to  the  Confederate  government  at  Mont 
gomery  that  Worden  had  practised  falsehood  and  deception  in 
gaining  access  to  the  squadron,  and  recommended  his  arrest.  He 
was  seized  on  the  i$th  of  April  and  cast  into  the  common  jail, 
where  he  was  treated  with  scorn  by  the  Confederates,  and  kept  a 
prisoner  until  November  following,  when  he  was  exchanged. 
Worden  had  acted  with  the  utmost  frankness  and  the  nicest  sense 
of  honor  in  the  whole  matter.  He  was  the  first  prisoner-of-war 
held  by  the  insurgents. 

A  few  days  after  the  reinforcement  of  Fort  Pickens,  two  ves 
sels,  bearing  several  hundred  troops  and  ample  supplies,  under 
Colonel  Harvey  Brown,  appeared  there,  when  Lieutenant  Slemmer 
and  his  brave  little  band,  worn  down  by  fatigue  and  continued 
watchfulness,  were  relieved,  and  sent  to  Fort  Hamilton,  near  New 
York,  to  rest.  The  grateful  people  honored  them.  The  Presi 
dent  gave  Slemmer  the  commission  of  major,  and  afterward  of 
brigadier;  and  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce  also  caused 
a  series  of  bronze  medals  to  be  struck  as  presents  to  the  com 
mander  and  men  of  the  brave  little  garrison.  Reinforcements 
continued  to  be  sent  to  Fort  Pickens;  and  the  number  of  the  in 
surgents  intended  to  assail  it  also  increased,  until,  in  May,  they 
numbered  over  seven  thousand.  But  events  of  very  little  im 
portance  occurred  in  that  vicinity  during  the  ensuing  summer. 

On  Sunday  morning,  the  i4th  of  April,  1861,  the  tidings  of 
the  dishonoring  of  the  National  standard  in  Charleston  harbor 
was  telegraphed  over  the  land,  and  created  the  wildest  excitement 
everywhere,  North  and  South.  The  loyal  people  were  indignant ; 
the  disloyal  people  were  jubilant.  I  was  in  New  Orleans  on  that 
day.  The  sound  of  Sabbath-bells  was  mingled  with  the  martial- 
music  of  fife  and  drum.  Church-goers  and  troops  in  bright  uniforms  were  seen  in  almost  every  street, 
the  latter  gathering  for  an  immediate  expedition  against  Fort  Pickens.  All  faces  beamed  with  gladness, 
and  the  pulpits  overflowed  with  words  of  loyalty  to  the  Southern  Confederacy.  At  the  North,  the  loyal 
hearts  of  the  patriotic  people  beat  vehemently  with  emotion;  and  everywhere  the  momentous  question 
was  asked,  What  next?  It  was  not  long  unanswered,  for  within  twenty-four  hours  after  Major  Anderson 
went  out  of  Fort  Sumter,  the  President  of  the  United  States  issued  a  stirring  call  for  seventy-five  thousand 
troops  to  suppress  the  rising  rebellion.  In  that  proclamation  (April  15,  1861)  the  President  declared  that 
for  some  time  combinations  in  several  of  the  States  (which  he  named),  "too  powerful  to  be  suppressed 
by  the  ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceedings  or  by  the  powers  vested  in  the  marshals  by  law,"  had 
opposed  the  laws  of  the  Republic;  and  therefore,  by  virtue  of  power  vested  in  him,  he  called  out  the 
militia  of  the  Union,  to  the  number  just  mentioned,  and  appealed  to  the  patriotism  of  the  people  in  support 
of  the  measure.  In  the  same  proclamation  he  summoned  the  National  Congress  to  meet  at  Washington 
city  on  the  4th  day  of  July  next  ensuing,  to  consider  the  crisis.  At  the  same  time  the  Secretary  of  War 
sent  a  despatch  to  the  governors  of  all  the  States  excepting  those  mentioned  in  the  President's  proclama 
tion,  requesting  each  of  them  to  cause  to  be  detailed  from  the  militia  of  his  State  the  quota  designated  in 
a  table  which  he  appended,  to  serve  as  infantrymen  or  riflemen  for  the  period  of  three  months,  unless 
sooner  discharged. 

This  call  of  the  President  and  the  requisition  of  the  Secretary  of  War  were  responded  to  with 
enthusiasm  in  the  free-labor  States;  but  in  six  of  the  eight  slave-labor  States  not  omitted  in  the  call,  they 
were  treated  with  scorn.  The  exceptions  were  Delaware  and  Maryland.  In  the  other  slave-labor  States, 
disloyal  governors  held  the  reins  of  power.  Governor  Letcher  of  Virginia  replied:  "I  have  only  to  say 
that  the  militia  of  this  State  will  not  be  furnished  to  the  powers  at  Washington  for  any  such  use  or  purpose 
as  they  have  in  view.  Your  object  is  to  subjugate  the  Southern  States,  and  a  requisition  made  upon  me 
for  such  an  object  will  not  be  complied  with.  You  have  chosen  to  inaugurate  Civil  War,  and,  having 


COLONEL  E.  E.  ELLSWORTH 


A    HISTORY    O  F    THE    CIV  I L     IV  A  R 


133 


134 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


done  so,  we  will  meet  it  in  a  spirit  as  determined  as  the  Administration  has  exhibited  toward  the  South." 
Governor  Ellis  of  North  Carolina  answered:  "Your  despatch  is  received,  and  if  genuine,  which  its  extraor 
dinary  character  leads  me  to  doubt,  I  have  to  say  in  reply,  that  I  regard  the  levy  of  troops  made  by 

the  Administration  for  the  purpose 
of  subjugating  the  States  of  the 
South,  as  in  violation  of  the  Con 
stitution  and  a  usurpation  of  power. 
I  can  be  no  party  to  this  wicked 
violation  of  the  laws  of  the  country, 
and  to  this  war  upon  the  liberties  of 
a  free  people.  You  can  get  no  troops 
from  North  Carolina."  Governor 
Magoffin  of  Kentucky  answered: 
"Your  despatch  is  received.  I  say 
emphatically  that  Kentucky  will 
furnish  no  troops  for  the  wicked  pur 
pose  of  subduing  her  sister  Southern 
States."  Governor  Harris  of  Ten 
nessee  said:  "Tennessee  will  not 
furnish  a  single  man  for  coercion; 
but  fifty  thousand,  if  necessary,  for 
the  defence  of  our  rights  or  those  of 
our  Southern  brethren."  Governor 
Rector  of  Arkansas  replied,  ' '  In  an 
swer  to  your  requisition  for  troops 


from  Arkansas,  to  subjugate  the 
Southern  States,  I  have  to  say  that 
none  will  be  furnished.  The  de 
mand  is  only  adding  insult  to  in 
jury.  The  people  of  this  Commonwealth  are  freemen,  not  slaves,  and  will  defend,  to  the  last  extremity, 
their  honor,  their  lives  and  property  against  Northern  mendacity  and  usurpation."  Governor  Jackson 
of  Missouri  responded:  "There  can  be,  I  apprehend,  no  doubt  that  these  men  are  intended  to  make 
war  on  the  seceded  States.  Your  requisition,  in  my  judgment,  is  illegal,  unconstitutional  and  revolting 
in  its  objects,  inhuman  and  diabolical,  and  cannot  be  complied  with.  Not  one  man  will  the  State  of 
Missouri  furnish  to  carry  on  such  an  unholy  crusade." 

It  was  reported  from  Montgomery  that  Mr.  Davis  and  his  compeers  received  Mr.  Lincoln's  call  for 
troops  "with  derisive  laughter."  Mr.  Hooper,  the  Secretary  of  the  Montgomery  Convention,  in  reply  to 
the  question  of  the  agent  of  the  Associated  Press  at  Washington,  "What  is  the  feeling  there?"  said: 


CHAIN  BRIDGE  OVER  THE  POTOMAC 


"Davis  answers,  rough  and  curt, 

With  Paixhan  and  petard, 
Sumtcr  is  ours  and  nobody  hurt, 

We  tender  old  Abe  our  Beau-regard." 

And  on  the  day  after  the  call  was  made  (April  16),  the  Hlobilc  Advertiser  contained  the  following  adver 
tisement  in  one  of  its  inside  business  columns: 

"75,000  COFFINS  WANTED." 

"PROPOSALS  will  be  received  to  supply  the  Confederacy  vith  75,000  black  coffins. 
CiTNo  proposals  will  be  entertained  coming  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line. 

"Direct  to         JEFF.  DAVIS,  Montgomery,  Alabama." 

This  ghastly  joke  showed  the  temper  of  the  political  leaders  in  that  region.  But  this  feeling  of 
boastfulness  and  levity  was  soon  changed  to  seriousness,  for  there  were  indications  of  a  wonderful  uprising 
of  the  loyal  people  of  the  free-labor  States  in  defence  of  the  Union.  Men,  women,  and  children  shared 
in  the  general  enthusiasm.  Loyalty  was  everywhere  expressed,  as  if  by  preconcert,  by  the  unfurling  of 
the  National  flag.  That  banner  was  seen  all  over  the  land  in  attestation  of  devotion  to  the  Union — in 
halls  of  justice  and  places  of  public  worship.  It  was  displayed  from  flagstaffs,  balconies,  windows,  and 
even  from  the  spires  of  churches  and  cathedrals.  It  was  seen  at  all  public  gatherings,  where  cannon 
roared  and  orators  spoke  eloquently  for  the  preservation  of  the  Republic;  and  red,  white,  and  blue — the 


.1     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


135 


CAPTAIN  OTIS  AND  COMPANY  OF  220  NEW  YORK  VOLUNTEERS  AT  HARPER'S  FERKV 


COMPANY    K,    NEW    YORK    VDI.UNTEEKS 


136 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


colors  of  our  flag  in  combination — were  the  hues  of  ornaments  worn  by  women  in  attestation  of  their 

loyalty.     And  when  it  was  evident  to  the  people  of  the  free-labor  States  that  the  National  capital  was 

in  danger,  organized  military  bands  were  seen  hurrying  to  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  for  the  defence  of 

Washington  city. 

The  foolish  boastings  of  the  Southern  newspapers  were  imitated  by  some  of  the  members  of  the 

Northern  press.     "The  nations  of  Europe,"  one  said,  "may  rest  assured  that  Jeff.  Davis  &  Co.  will  be 

swinging  from  the  battlements  at  Washington,  at  least  by  the  2ist  of  July.     We  spit  upon  a  later  or 

longer-deferred  justice."     Another  said:    "Let  us  make  quick  work.     The  'rebellion,'  as  some  people 

term  it,  is  an  unborn  tadpole.     Let  us  not  fall  into  the  delusion,  noted  by  Hallam,  of  mistaking  a  'local 

commotion'  for  revolution.     A  strong,  active  'pull  together'  will  do  our  work  effectually  in  thirty  days." 

And  still  another 

of  sense  can  for 

that  this  much- 
ing  will  end  in  a 

Northern  people 

vincible.        The 

band  of  ragamuf  - 

like  chaff  before 

approach."  And 

with    particular 

speech,    said : 

get    out    of   the 

war  of  the  West. 

battle,  and  suc- 

two      or      three 

farthest.  Illinois 

South  by  herself. 

matter        being 

us.     ...    The 

crushed  out  be- 

blage     of     Con- 
Neither  sec- 

hended  the  ear- 


CONTRABAXDS    AND   TOLLER'S    HOTEL 


said:  "No  man 
a  moment  doubt 
ado-about-noth  - 
month.  The 
are  simply  in- 
rebels — a  mere 
fins  —  will  fly 
the  wind,  on  our 
a  Chicago  paper, 
craziness  of 
' '  Let  the  East 
way;  this  is  a 
We  can  fight  the 
cessfully,  within 
months  at  the 
cart  whip  the 
We  insist  on  this 
turned  over  to 
rebellion  will  be 
fore  the  assem- 
grcss." 

tion  compre- 
ncstncss  and 


prowess  of  the  other — the  pluck  that  always  distinguished  the  American  people,  North  and  South.  Each, 
in  its  pride,  felt  a  contempt  for  the  other,  each  believing  the  other  would  not  fight.  This  was  a  fatal 
misapprehension,  and  led  to  sad  results.  Each  party  appealed  to  the  Almighty  to  witness  the  rectitude 
of  its  intentions,  and  each  was  quick  to  discover  omens  of  Heaven's  approval  of  its  course.  When,  on 
the  Sunday  after  the  President's  call  for  troops  went  forth,  the  first  lesson  in  the  morning  service  in  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  churches  of  the  land  on  that  day  contained  this  battle-call  of  the  prophet:  "Proclaim 
ye  this  among  the  Gentiles:  Prepare  for  war;  wake  up  the  mighty  men;  let  all  the  men  of  war  draw  near; 
let  them  come  up;  beat  your  ploughshares  into  swords,  and  your  pruning-hooks  into  spears;  let  the  weak 
say,  I  am  strong,"  the  loyal  people  of  Boston,  New  York,  and  Cincinnati  said:  "See,  how  Revelation 
summons  us  to  the  conflict!"  and  the  insurgents  of  Charleston,  Mobile,  and  New  Orleans  answered:  "It 
is  equally  a  call  for  us,"  adding:  "See  how  specially  we  are  promised  victory  in  another  Scripture  lesson 
in  the  same  church,  which  says:  'I  will  remove  off  from  you  the  Northern  Army,  and  will  drive  him  into 
a  land  barren  and  desolate,  with  his  face  toward  the  East  sea,  and  his  hinder  part  toward  the  utmost  sea. 
.  .  Fear  not,  O  land!  be  glad  and  rejoice;  for  the  Lord  will  do  great  things." 

Two  days  after  the  President's  call  was  promulgated,  the  chief  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  issued  a 
proclamation,  in  which,  after  declaring  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  announced  the  intention  of  invading  the 
"Confederate  States"  for  "the  purpose  of  capturing  its  fortresses  and  thereby  subverting  its  independence, 
and  subjecting  the  free  people  thereof  to  the  dominion  of  a  foreign  power, ' '  he  invited  all  persons  who  felt 
so  disposed  to  enter  upon  a  course  of  legalized  piracy  called  "privateering,"  and  to  depredate  on  the 
commerce  of  the  United  States.  This  proclamation  was  immediately  followed  by  another  from  the 
President,  declaring  his  intention  to  employ  a  competent  force  to  blockade  all  the  ports  which  were  claimed 
to  belong  to  the  Southern  Confederacy;  also  warning  all  persons  who  should  engage  in  privateering  under 
the  sanction  of  a  commission  from  the  insurgent  chief,  that  they  would  be  held  amenable  to  the  laws  of 
the  United  States  for  the  prevention  and  punishment  of  piracy. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


137 


138 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


The  "Congress  of  the  Confederate  States"  had  been  summoned  to  meet  at  Montgomery  on  the  2Qth 
of  April  (1861),  and  a  few  days  after  the  session  began,  an  act  was  passed  declaring  that  war  existed 
between  the  seven  "seceded"  States  and  the  United  States,  and  authorized  Mr.  Davis  to  employ  the 
power  of  their  section  to  "meet  the  war  thus  commenced,  and  to  issue  to  private  armed  vessels  commissions 
or  letters  of  marque  and  general  reprisal,  in  such  form  as  he  shall  think  proper,  under  the  seal  of  the 


DRILLING  IN  THE  FORT 

Confederate  States,  against  the  vessels,  goods,  and  effects  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and 
of  the  citizens  or  inhabitants  of  the  States  and  Territories  thereof."  They  also  offered  a  bounty  of  twenty 
dollars  for  each  person  who  might  be  on  board  of  an  armed  vessel  of  the  United  States  that  should  be 
destroyed  by  a  Confederate  privateer — in  other  words,  a  reward  for  the  destruction  of  men,  women,  and 
children.  "Happily  for  the  credit  of  humanity,"  says  a  historian  of  the  war,  "this  act  has  no  parallel  on 
the  statute-book  of  any  civilized  nation."  Mr.  Davis  did  not  wait  for  this  authority,  but  several  days 
before  the  assembling  of  his  "Congress,"  he  issued  commissions  for  privateering,  signed  by  himself,  and 
Robert  Toombs,  as  secretary.  With  these  hostile  proclamations  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Davis,  the  great 
Conflict  was  fairly  begun. 

CHAPTER   IX. 

The  Virginia  Convention — Union  Sentiments  Suppressed  by  Violence — Ordinance  of  Secession  Passed — Bad  Faith — Virginia  Annexed 
to  the  Confederacy — The  People  Disfranchised — The  National  Capital  To  Be  Seized — Davis's  Professions — Poetic  Comments  on 
Them — Events  at  Harper's  Ferry  and  Gosport  Navy- Yard — Response  to  the  Call  for  Troops — Massachusetts  Sends  Troops  to 
Washington — Attack  upon  Them  in  Baltimore — Critical  Situation  of  the  Capital — The  President  and  Maryland  Secessionists — 
Prompt  and  Efficient  Action  of  General  Wool — Union  Defence  Committee — General  Butler's  Operations  in  Maryland — He  Takes 
Possession  of  Baltimore — Events  at  the  Capital — Preparations  for  the  Struggle. 

AT  this  time  Virginia  had  passed  through  a  fiery  ordeal  and  lay  prostrate,  bound  hand  and  foot  by 
her  disloyal  sons,  at  the  feet  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.     A  State  Convention  assembled  at  the 
middle  of  February,  and  remained  in  session  more  than  two  months.     A  large  majority  of  the 
members  were  animated  by  a  sincere  love  for  the  Union,  especially  those  from  the  mountain  districts  in 
Western  Virginia;   and  even  so  late  as  a  fortnight  before  its  adjournment,  an  Ordinance  of  Secession  was 
defeated  by  a  vote  of  eighty-nine  against  forty-five.     Yet  the  conspirators  persevered  with  hope,  for  they 
saw  one  after  another  of  weak  Union  members  converted  by  their  sophistry. 

The  crisis  was  reached  when  Edmund  Ruffin  fired  his  gun  at  Fort  Sumter.  "That  gun,"  said  a 
telegraphic  despatch  from  Charleston,  "will  do  more  in  the  cause  of  secession  in  Virginia  than  volumes  of 
stump  speeches."  So  it  did.  It  set  bells  ringing  and  cannon  thundering  in  the  Virginia  capital,  and 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


139 


. 


FORTIFICATIONS 


ADMIRAL  DAHI.CKEN  AND  OFFICERS  ox   UKCK  OF  "PAWNKI." 


140 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


produced  the  wildest  excitement  in  and  out  of  the  Convention.  "The  war  has  begun;  what  will  Virginia 
do? "  asked  Governor  Pickens,  by  telegraph.  Governor  Letcher  replied,  "The  Convention  will  determine." 
That  determination  was  speedily  made.  When,  on  Monday  the  i5th  of  April,  the  President's  call  for 
troops  to  suppress  the  rising  rebellion  was  read  in  the  Convention,  that  body  was  shaken  by  a  fierce 
tempest  of  contending  passions.  Reason  and  judgment  fled,  and  the  stoutest  Union  men  bent  before 
the  storm  like  reeds  in  a  gale.  Yet  when  the  Convention  adjourned  that  evening,  and  the  question  was 
pending,  Shall  Virginia  secede  at  once  ?  there  was  a  strong  majority  in  favor  of  Union. 

The  conspirators  were  now  desperate.  They  perceived  that  the  success  of  their  grand  scheme,  the 
seizure  of  the  National  capital,  depended  upon  the  action  of  Virginia  at  that  crisis.  Richmond  was  then 
in  the  hands  of  an  excited  populace  ready  to  do  the  bidding  of  the  leading  politicians,  and  the  latter  resolved 
to  act  with  a  high  hand.  They  perceived  that  the  absence  of  ten  Union  members  from  the  Convention 
would  give  a  majority  for  secession.  Accordingly  ten  of  them  were  waited  upon  by  the  conspirators  on 
that  evening,  and  informed  that  they  must  choose  between  three  modes  of  action,  namely,  to  vote  for 
secession,  absent  themselves,  or  be  hanged.  They  saw  that  resistance  to  these  desperate  men  would  be 
vain,  and  they  absented  themselves.  These  violent  proceedings  awed  other  Union  men  in  the  Convention, 


SCENE  ON  THE  JAMES  RIVER 

and  on  Wednesday  the  i;th  of  April,  1861,  an  Ordinance  of  Secession  was  adopted.  Unlike  the  conven 
tions  of  other  "seceding"  States,  it  referred  the  Ordinance  to  the  people  to  vote  on  at  a  future  day.  But 
this  show  of  respect  for  the  popular  will  was  not  sincere.  A  despatch  was  immediately  sent  to  Jefferson 
Davis,  telling  him  that  Virginia  was  "out  of  the  Union";  and  within  twenty-four  hours  after  the  passage 
of  the  Ordinance,  and  while  it  was  yet  under  cover  of  an  injunction  of  secrecy,  Governor  Letcher  set  in 
motion  expeditions  to  capture  the  Arsenal  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  the  Navy-yard  at  Gosport,  opposite 
Norfolk,  preparatory  to  the  seizure  of  the  National  capital.  Davis  sent  his  lieutenant,  Alexander  H. 
Stephens,  from  Montgomery  to  Richmond,  to  urge  the  Convention  to  violate  its  faith  pledged  to  the 
people,  and  to  formally  annex  Virginia  to  the  Confederacy  without  their  consent.  This  was  done  within 
a  week  after  the  passage  of  the  Ordinance  of  Secession,  and  a  month  before  the  day  appointed  for  the 
people  to  vote  upon  it. 

Stephens  arrived  in  Richmond  on  the  evening  of  the  23d  of  April.  The  Convention  appointed  a 
commission,  w-ith  ex-President  Tyler  at  its  head,  to  treat  with  this  representative  of  the  "Confederacy" 
for  the  annexation  of  Virginia  to  that  league.  The  act  wTas  accomplished  the  next  day.  The  "treaty" 
provided  that  "the  whole  military  force  and  military  operations"  of  Virginia,  "offensive  and  defensive,  in 
the  impending  conflict  with  the  United  States,"  should  be  under  the  chief  control  of  Jefferson  Davis. 
Then  they  adopted  and  ratified  the  "Provisional  Constitution  of  the  Confederacy;"  appointed  delegates 
to  the  "Confederate  Congress;"  authorized  the  banks  of  the  State  to  suspend  specie  payments;  made 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


141 


Sl'KXKS     AM)     YlKWS     IX     Yol<  KTOW.N 


142 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


provision  for  the  establishment  of  a  navy  for  Virginia ;  made  other  provisions  for  waging  war  on  the  Union, 
and  invited  the  "government  at  Montgomery"  to  make  Richmond  its  future  seat.  All  this  was  done  in 
spite  of  the  known  will  of  the  people;  and  when  the  day  approached  for  them  to  express  that  will  by 
the  ballot,  they  found  themselves  tied  hand  and  foot  by  an  inexorable  despotism.  James  M.  Mason,  one 
of  the  most  active  of  the  Virginia  conspirators,  issued  a  manifesto,  in  which  he  declared  his  State  to  be 
out  of  the  old  Union;  that  a  rejection  of  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  would  be  a  violation  of  a  sacred 
pledge  given  to  the  Confederacy  by  the  politicians;  and  said,  concerning  those  who  could  not  conscien 
tiously  vote  to  separate  Virginia  from  the  Union,  "Honor  and  duty  alike  require  that  they  should  not 
vote  on  the  question;  and  if  they  retain  such  opinions,  they  must  leave  the  State."  Submission  or  banish 
ment  was  the  alternative.  Mason  simply  repeated  the  sentiments  of  Jefferson  Davis  in  another  form: 
"All  who  oppose  us  shall  smell  Southern  powder,  and  feel  Southern  steel." 

When  the  vote  was  finally  taken  on  the  23d  of  May,  it  was  in  the  face  of  bayonets.  Terror  reigned 
all  over  Eastern  Virginia.  Unionists  were  compelled  to  fly  for  their  lives  before  the  instruments  of  the 
civil  and  military  power  at  Richmond,  for  the  "Confederate  government"  was  then  seated  there.  By 
these  means  the  enemies  of  the  Union  were  enabled  to  report  a  majority  of  over  one  hundred  thousand 
votes  of  Virginians  in  favor  of  secession,  the  vote  being  given  by  the  voice  and  not  by  the  secret  ballot. 


COMPANY  DRILL 

Then  the  governor  of  South  Carolina,  with  selfish  complacency,  said  to  his  people:  "You  may  plant  your 
seed  in  peace,  for  Old  Virginia  will  have  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  battle."  And  so  she  did  much  of  the 
time.  Her  politicians  offered  her  back  to  the  burden  which  the  Gulf  States  had  rolled  from  their  own 
shoulders,  and  a  most  grievous  one  it  was. 

Prodigious  efforts  were  now  made  for  the  seizure  of  the  National  capital.  On  his  journey  to  Richmond, 
Alex.  H.  Stephens  had  harangued  the  people  at  various  points,  and  everywhere  raised  the  cry,  "On  to 
Washington!"  That  cry  was  already  resounding  throughout  the  slave-labor  States.  Troops  were  mar 
shaling  for  the  service,  in  Virginia;  and  already  Carolina  soldiers  were  treading  its  soil.  The  Southern 
press,  everywhere,  urged  the  measure  with  the  greatest  vehemence.  On  the  day  when  Stephens  arrived 
in  Richmond,  .one  of  the  newspapers  of  that  city  said:  "There  never  was  half  the  unanimity  among  the 
people  before,  nor  a  tithe  of  the  zeal  upon  any  subject,  that  is  now  manifested  to  take  Washington  and 
drive  from  it  every  Black  Republican  who  is  a  dweller  there.  From  the  mountain  tops  and  valleys  to 
the  shores  of  the  sea,  there  is  one  wild  shout  of  fierce  resolve  to  capture  Washington  city,  at  all  and  every 
human  hazard."  Yet  in  the  face  of  the  universal  chorus,  "On  to  Washington!"  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis, 
president  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  speaking  more  to  Europe  than  to  his  people,  said  to  his  congress 
at  Montgomery :  ' '  We  profess  solemnly,  in  the  face  of  mankind,  that  we  desire  peace  at  any  sacrifice  save 
that  of  honor.  ...  In  independence  we  seek  no  conquest,  no  aggrandizement,  no  cession  of  any 
kind  from  the  States  with  which  we  have  lately  confederated.  All  we  ask  is  to  be  let  alone — those  who 
never  held  power  over  us,  should  not  now  attempt  our  subjugation  by  arms." 

Harper's  Ferry,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Potomac  and  Shenandoah  rivers,  where  their  combined 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


143 


VIEWS  ox  THE  JAMES  RIVKR 


144 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


AT  HILTON  HEAD,  BUILT  BY  SOLDIERS 


waters  flow  through  the  Blue  Ridge,  in  Virginia,  had  been  for  years  the  seat  of  an  Armor}-  and  Arsenal 
of  the  United  States,  where  almost  ninety  thousand  muskets  were  usually  stored.  At  the  time  we  are 
considering,  the  post  was  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Roger  Jones,  with  some  dismounted  dragoons  and  a 
few  other  soldiers.  Warned  of  impending  danger,  Jones  was 
vigilant ;  and  he  prepared  for  any  sudden  emergency  by  laying 
a  train  of  gunpowder  for  the  destruction  of  the  Government 
property,  if  necessary.  When,  late  in  the  evening  of  the  iSth 
of  April,  about  two  thousand  Virginia  militia  were  within  a 
mile  of  the  post  and  were  pressing  on  to  seize  it,  Jones  fired  his 
trains,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  Government  buildings  were 
all  in  flames,  and  the  little  garrison  of  forty  men  were  crossing 
the  covered  railway  bridge  into  Maryland,  in  a  successful  flight 
to  Carlisle  Barracks,  in  Pennsylvania.  The  insurgents  were 
foiled  in  their  attempt  to  secure  a  large  quantity  of  fire-arms; 
but  they  seized  Harper's  Ferry  as  an  important  point  for 
future  hostile  operations.  In  May,  full  eight  thousand  Con 
federate  troops  were  there. 

The  expedition  against  the  Navy-yard  at  Gosport  was 
more  successful.  It  was  situated  on  the  Elizabeth  River, 
opposite  Norfolk,  and  at  that  time  contained  two  thousand 
pieces  of  heavy  cannon  fit  for  service,  and  a  vast  amount  of 
munitions  of  war,  naval  stores,  and  materials  for  ship-building. 
In  the  waters  near  and  on  the  stocks  were  several  vessels-of- 
war,  which  the  Secessionists  attempted  to  secure  by  sinking 
obstructions  in  the  river  below  to  prevent  their  sailing  out. 
This  was  done  on  the  day  before  the  Virginia  Ordinance  of  Secession  was  adopted.  The  post  was  in 
command  of  Commodore  C.  S.  McCauley,  who,  soothed  and  deceived  by  false  professions  of  loyalty  by 
the  officers  of  Southern  birth  under  him,  delayed  taking  action  to  protect  the  Navy-yard  and  the  vessels 
until  it  was  too  late.  When  the  action  of  the  officers  at  Pensacola  was  known,  these  men  said  to  the 
Commodore,  "You  have  no  Pensacola  officers  here;  we  will  never  desert  you;  we  will  stand  by  you  until 
the  last,  even  to  the  death;"  yet  these  men  all  resigned  when  the  Virginia  Ordinance  of  Secession  was 
passed,  abandoned  their  flag,  and  joined  the  forces  under  General  Taliaferro,  commander  of  the  Virginia 
troops  in  that  region,  who  arrived  at  Norfolk  on  the  evening  of  the  i8th  of  April  to  attempt  the  seizure 
of  the  naval  station.  Believing  an  immediate  effort  would  be  made  to  seize  the  vessels,  McCauley  ordered 
them  to  be  scuttled  and  sunk,  and  this  was  done.  At  that  critical  moment,  Captain  Paulding  of  the  navy 
arrived  in  the  Pawnee  as  the  successor  of  McCauley,  and  perceiving  all  the  vessels  but  the  Cumberland 

beyond  recovery,  he  ordered  them  and  all 
the  public  property  at  the  Navy-yard  to  be 
burned  or  otherwise  destroyed.  This  de 
struction  was  only  partially  accomplished. 
About  seven  million  dollars'  worth  of  prop 
erty  disappeared;  but  the  insurgents 
gained  a  vast  number  of  heavy  guns  with 
which  they  waged  war  afterward.  They 
also  saved  some  of  the  vessels.  Among  the 
latter  was  the  Merrimac,  which  was  after 
ward  converted  by  the  Confederates  into  a 
powerful  iron-clad  vessel.  This  important 
post  was  held  by  the  insurgents  until  early 
in  May  the  following  year,  when  it  was 
recovered  by  General  Wool. 

So  secretly  had  the  Confederates  pre 
pared  for  the  seizure  of  the  National  capital 
that  the  sudden  development  of  their 
strength  was  amazing.  The  Government 

TURRET  AND  PART  OF  DECK  OK  ORIGINAL  MONITOR,  SHOWING  DENTS  MADE     WaS  made  Painfully  aware  that  its  cal1  for 
BY  POINTED  SHOT  FROM  THE  GUNS  OF  THE  MERRIMAC  troops  had  not  been  made  an  hour  too  soon. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


145 


MONITOR  ON  THE  JAMES 


OFFICERS  ON  DECK  OF  MONITOR 


146 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GROUP  OF  CONTRABANDS 


There  was  a  general  impression  that  Washington  city  was  to  be  the  first  point  of  serious  attack,  and 
toward  it  vast  numbers  of  armed  men  eagerly  pressed  to  the  protection  of  the  President,  his  cabinet, 
the  Government  archives,  and  the  Capitol.  Within  three  days  after  the  call,  full  one  hundred  thousand 

young  men  had  dropped  their  implements  of  labor  to  pre 
pare  for  war. 

Those  of  Massachusetts  were  first  ready.  Early  in 
the  year  Governor  Andrew  had  put  the  militia  of  the  State 
on  a  sort  of  war  footing,  and  five  thousand  volunteers  were 
drilled  in  armories.  He  invited  the  other  New  England 
States  to  do  likewise,  and  they  complied,  in  a  degree. 
When,  on  the  day  the  President  called  for  seventy-five 
thousand  men,  Senator  Henry  Wilson  telegraphed  to  Gov 
ernor  Andrew  to  send  twenty  companies  immediately  to 
Washington,  they  were  ready.  A  few  hours  later  the 
requisition  of  the  Secretary  of  War  reached  the  governor, 
and  before  sunset  four  regiments  at  different  points  were 
ordered  to  muster  on  Boston  Common.  They  were  all 
there  the  next  day,  in  charge  of  Brigadier-General  Ben 
jamin  F.  Butler;  and  it  was  arranged  for  the  Sixth  Regi 
ment,  Colonel  Jones  of  Lowell,  to  go  forward  at  once  to 
Washington,  through  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Bal 
timore. 

On  the  day  (April  18)  when  the  insurgents  expected  to 
seize  the  arms  at  Harper's  Ferry,  five  companies  of  Penn- 
sylvanians  passed  through  Baltimore  for  the  capital. 

They  were  slightly  attacked  by  the  mob  in  that  city.  They  were  the  first  of  the  loyal  troops  to  reach 
Washington  city,  and  were  quartered  in  the  Capitol.  The  Secessionists  of  Maryland  were  then  active, 
and  were  determined  to  place  their  State  as  a  barrier  across  the  pathway  of  troops  from  the  North  and 
East.  Their  governor  (Hicks)  was  a  loyal  man,  but  the  mayor  of  Baltimore  was  not,  and  the  chief  of 
police  (Kane)  was  an  ally  of  the  disloyal  leaders.  When  the  Pennsylvanians  had  passed  through  the 
city,  rumors  came  that  a  regiment  from  Massachusetts  were  approaching;  and  when,  on  the  following 
day  (April  19,  1861),  the  latter  were  marching  from  one  railway  station  to  another,  in  Baltimore,  they 
were  violently  assailed  with  missiles  of  every  sort  by  an  excited  populace  numbering  full  ten  thousand 
persons.  The  mayor,  alarmed  at  the  furious  whirlwind  that  his  political  friends  had  raised,  vainly 
attempted  to  control  it.  With  a  large  body  of  the  police,  most  of  whom  did  not  share  in  the  treason  of 
their  chief  (Kane),  he  tried  to  quell  the  disturbance,  but  his  power  was  inoperative.  The  fight  in  the 
streets  was  severe.  Three  of  the  troops  (the  Sixth  Massachusetts)  were  killed  or  mortally  wounded,  and 
in  defence  of  their  own  lives  they  slew  nine  citizens  of  Baltimore.  This  tragedy  produced  intense  excite 
ment  all  over  the  country.  There  the  first  blood  was  shed  in  the  terrible  conflict  that  ensued.  For  a 
moment  the  indignation  of  the  loyal  people  was  so  hot,  that  the  city  seemed  doomed  to  swift  destruction. 
A  cry  went  forth,  "Lay  it  in  ashes!"  and  Bayard  Taylor  wrote: 

"Bow  down  in  haste  thy  guilty  head! 

God's  wrath  is  swift  and  sure; 
The  sky  with  gathering  holts  is  red. 
Cleanse  from  thy  skirts  the  slaughter  shed 
Or  make  thyself  an  ashen  bed, 

O  Baltimore!" 

The  troops  from  Pennsylvania  and  Massachusetts  were  not  too  soon  in  the  National  capital ;  for  all 
communication  between  Washington  and  the  North,  by  railway  and  telegraph,  was  cut  off  for  a  week 
after  the  affray  in  Baltimore.  On  the  night  of  the  riot  the  bridges  of  the  railway  running  northward  from 
that  city  were  burned,  and  the  telegraph  wires  were  cut,  under  the  sanction  of  its  mayor  and  chief  of 
police;  and  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  other  officers  of  government,  civil  and  military,  at 
the  capital,  were  virtually  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  enemies  of  their  country.  The  capital  was  swarm 
ing  with  them;  and  these,  with  the  Minute-men  of  Maryland,  were  barely  restrained  from  violence  by 
the  Pennsylvania  and  Massachusetts  soldiers  in  Washington. 

The  Maryland  Secessionists  now  declared  that  no  more  troops  should  pass  through  that  State  to 
Washington;  and  the  mayor  of  Baltimore,  with  the  sanction  of  Governor  Hicks,  sent  a  committee  to 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


147 


SCENES  AT  AOUIA  CKEEK   LANDING 


148 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


iap.j'H.v-"        ij    <••  I    jjp  f'R&3%i$t?%i-M'>^V> 

••>>:*§.         :|    1    'V  '    •-..•    ^  ;  't,  1    ,^  v'a?;^  ;S""%:-s«: 

^g*  C^sKecK     -^-'-/    V-    UCf    |4dh3ja 


L  %5P 

V  ';.  .    •  :- .  ";t.->-    -.-.J-r —  /        jo»«^;  i!a5S5»a.s  /,'j    =;.  X 

te-"*^Pf- 

i  ft^ft8,if**^    ^.jNj.py 

- .  >•.,;••?«. .'-;---\  - "v:-.;v^'?-.  iS,,-,i,!«dr-  *..•».'. .-•.- -'..*•  \,-^>-;si' 


, 

'fT?&,  -tL~y- 

"- 

>j     ,J^.\y'° 'j>.  fr^ia^.J-^"^r 


MAP  OK  RICHMOND  AND  I'OKT  or  \  IKCIMA 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


149 


GENERAL  VIEW  OF  HARPER'S  FKRKY 


GREAT   FALLS,   POTOMAC   KIVKK 


150 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


President  Lincoln  to  tell  him  of  this  decision.  The  President  received  them  courteously,  and  yielded 
much  for  the  sake  of  peace,  proposing  to  have  the  troops  go  by  water  to  Annapolis,  and  thence  march 
through  the  sparsely  settled  country  to  the  capital.  The  Secessionists  would  not  yield  an  iota  of  their 
demand  that  "no  United  States  soldier  should  tread  the  soil  of  Maryland."  Governor  Hicks,  a  sincere 
Unionist,  but  not  in  robust  bodily  health  and  almost  seventy  years  of  age,  was  overborne  by  the  violent 
Secessionists  in  official  position,  and  was  made  their  passive  instrument  in  some  degree.  He  was  induced 
to  make  the  degrading  proposition  that  Lord  Lyons,  the  British  minister  at  Washington,  "be  requested 
to  act  as  mediator  between  the  contending  parties  in  our  country."  In  the  name  of  the  President,  Mr. 
Seward  reminded  the  governor  that  when  the  capital  was  in  danger  in  1814,  as  it  was  now,  his  State 
gladly  welcomed  the  United  States  troops  everywhere  on  its  soil,  for  the  defence  of  Washington.  This 
mildly  drawn  but  stinging  rebuke  of  the  chief  magistrate  of  a  State  that  professed  to  be  a  member  of  the 
Union,  gave  the  Secessionists  notice  that  no  degrading  propositions  would,  for  a  moment,  be  entertained 
by  the  Government. 

Still  another  delegation  went  from  Baltimore  to  the  President  to  give  him  advice  in  the  interest  of 


INTERIOR  OF  FORT 

the  Secessionists.  They  represented  the  theological  element  of  Baltimore  society,  and  were  led  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Fuller  of  the  Baptist  Church.  When  that  gentleman  assured  the  President  that  he  might  secure 
peace  by  recognizing  the  independence  of  the  ' '  seceded ' '  States ;  that  they  would  never  be  a  part  of  the 
Union  again,  and  expressed  a  hope  that  no  more  troops  would  be  allowed  to  pass  through  Maryland,  the 
President  listened  patiently,  and  then  said  significantly :  "I  must  have  troops  for  the  defence  of  the  capital. 
The  Carolinians  are  now  marching  across  Virginia  to  seize  the  capital,  and  hang  me.  What  am  I  to  do? 
I  must  have  troops,  I  say;  and  as  they  can  neither  crawl  under  Maryland  nor  fly  over  it,  they  must  come 
across  it."  -The  deputation  returned  to  Baltimore,  and  the  Secessionists  of  that  city  never  afterward  gave 
suggestions  or  advice  to  President  Lincoln. 

The  critical  situation  of  the  capital  created  intense  anxiety  throughout  the  free-labor  States.  All 
communication  between  Washington  and  the  rest  of  the  world  was  cut  off.  General  Scott  could  not  send 
an  order  anywhere.  What  was  to  be  done?  That  question  was  promptly  answered  by  the  veteran 
General  John  E.  Wool.  He  hastened  from  his  headquarters  in  Troy,  New  York,  to  the  presence  of  the 
governor  of  the  State  (Morgan)  at  Albany,  and  they  went  immediately  to  the  city  of  New  York.  Wool 
was  the  commander  of  the  Eastern  Department  of  the  Army,  which  included  the  whole  country  eastward 
of  the  Mississippi  River.  He  and  the  governor  held  a  conference  with  the  "Union  Defence  Committee," 
composed  of  some  of  the  leading  citizens  of  New  York,  with  General  John  A.  Dix  as  chairman  and 
William  M.  Evarts  as  secretary.  A  plan  of  action  for  the  relief  of  the  capital  was  formed  and  put  into 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


151 


c 
c 


tr. 

c 

n 
td 


£ 

r. 

C 


152 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


immediate  operation.  Wool,  unable  to  communicate  with  the  General-in-Chief  (vScott),  assumed  the 
responsibility  of  ordering  the  movements  of  troops,  providing  for  the  safety  of  Fortress  Monroe,  and 
sending  forward  immediate  military  relief  and  supplies  for  the  menaced  capital.  The  governors  of  a 
dozen  States  applied  to  him  for  relief  and  munitions  of  war,  as  he  was  the  highest  military  authority  then 
accessible;  and  he  assisted  in  arming  no  less  than  nine  States.  By  his  prodigious  and  judicious  labors 
in  connection  with  the  liberal  "Union  Defence  Committee"  of  New  York,  the  capital  was  saved. 

The  destruction  of  bridges  north  of  Baltimore  prevented  troops  from  passing  that  way.  So  the 
Seventh  Regiment  of  New  York,  Colonel  Ellsworth's  New  York  Fire  Zouaves  and  some  Massachusetts 
troops,  under  General  B.  F.  Butler,  proceeded  to  Annapolis  by  water,  and  saved  the  frigate  Constitution 
there,  which  was  about  to  be  seized  by  the  Secessionists.  Butler  took  possession  of  the  railway  between 
Annapolis  and  Washington,  and  first  opened  communication  with  the  capital;  and  on  the  25th  of  April  he 
took  possession  of  the  Relay  House,  nine  miles  from  Baltimore,  where  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railway 
turns  toward  Harper's  Ferry.  While  he  was  there,  over  nine  hundred  men,  with  a  battery,  under  Colonel 
F.  E.  Patterson,  sailed  from  Philadelphia  and  landed  near  Fort  McHenry,  at  Baltimore,  in  the  presence 


COMPANY  UNRECOGNIZED 


of  the  mayor  of  the  city,  Chief  of  Police  Kane  and  many  of  his  force,  and  a  vast  crowd  of  excited  citizens. 
Latent  Unionism  in  Maryland  was  then  astir,  and  shouts  of  welcome  greeted  the  Pennsylvanians.  That 
was  on  the  gth  of  May — three  wyeeks  after  the  attack  on  the  Massachusetts  troops  in  the  streets  of  Balti 
more.  These  were  the  first  troops  that  had  passed  through  since,  and  were  the  pioneers  of  tens  of  thousands 
of  Union  soldiers  who  streamed  through  that  city  during  the  war  that  ensued.  Though  the  Maryland 
Legislature  shielded,  by  special  law,  the  leaders  in  the  murderous  assault  on  the  troops  on  the  igth  of 
April,  from  punishment,  no  such  violence  was  ever  attempted  afterward. 

General  Scott  had  planned  a  ponderous  expedition  for  seizing  and  holding  Baltimore.  It  was  to 
consist  of  twelve  thousand  men  divided  into  four  columns,  who  were  to  approach  that  city  from  four 
different  points  at  the  same  time.  General  Butler  saw  that  a  swifter  movement  was  necessary  to  accom 
plish  that  end.  He  obtained  permission  of  General  Scott  to  attempt  the  seizure  of  some  arms  and 
ammunition  said  to  be  concealed  in  Baltimore,  and  to  arrest  some  Secessionists  there.  Baltimore  was  in 
the  Department  of  Annapolis,  of  which  Butler  was  commander,  and  the  permission  implied  the  use  of 
troops.  Having  promised  Colonel  Jones,  of  the  Sixth  Massachusetts  Regiment,  that  his  men  should 
again  march  through  Baltimore,  he  summoned  that  regiment  from  the  capital  to  the  Relay  House.  With 
these  and  a  few  other  troops,  and  two  pieces  of  artillery  well  manned,  in  all  a  little  more  than  a  thousand 
men,  he  entered  cars  headed  toward  Harper's  Ferry.  They  ran  up  the  road  a  short  distance,  and  then 
backed  slowly  past  the  Relay  House  and  into  Baltimore  early  in  the  evening,  just  as  a  heavy  thunderstorm 


.4     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


153 


SCENES  IN  THE  CAMP  OF  THK  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC,   i80_> 


154 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


burst  upon  the  city.  Few  persons  were  abroad,  and  the  citizens  were  ignorant  of  this  portentous 
arrival.  The  mayor  was  soon  afterward  apprised  of  it,  and  sent  a  note  to  General  Butler  inquiring  what 
he  meant  by  thus  threatening  the  peace  of  the  city  by  the  presence  of  a  large  body  of  troops. 

When  the  mayor's  message  arrived  at  the  station, 
Butler  and  his  men  had  disappeared  in  the  gloom.  Well 
piloted,  they  marched  to  Federal  Hill,  an  eminence  that 
commanded  the  city.  The  rain  fell  copiously;  the  rumble 
of  the  cannon-wheels  was  mingled  with  that  of  the  thunder, 
and  was  mistaken  for  it,  and  the  lightning  played  around 
the  points  of  their  bayonets.  In  his  wet  clothing,  at  near 
midnight,  General  Butler  sat  down  and  wrote  a  proclama 
tion  to  the  citizens  of  Baltimore,  assuring  all  peaceable 
citizens  full  protection,  and  intimating  that  a  much  larger 
force  was  at  hand  to  support  the  Government  in  its  efforts 
to  suppress  the  rebellion.  This  proclamation  (dated  May 
14,  1861)  was  published  in  a  city  paper  (the  Clipper)  the 

next  morning,  and  gave 
the  people  of  Baltimore 
the  first  intimation 
that  their  town  was  in 
of  National  troops.  In 
more  than  a  thousand 
plished,  under  an  auda- 
General  Scott  proposed 


the  actual  possession 
a  single  night,  a  little 
men  had  accom- 
cious  leader,  what 
to  do  with  twelve 
definite  time.  The 
eral-in-Chief  was  of- 
action  of  a  subordi- 
for  acting  without 
his  removal  from  the 
ment.  The  good- 
President  didremove 
to  a  more  extended 
ations,  with  a  higher 
From  that  time,  troops  were 
pass  freely  through  Balti- 
the  North ;  and  at  the  mid- 
the  National  capital  was  so 
tected  that  it  was  regarded 
ly  safe  from  capture  by  the 
The  contest  had  now  as- 
dignity  of  Civil  War.  The 
crates  were  putting  forth  all 
gies  to  meet  the  forces  called 
by  the  President  of  the  Re- 
vis  summoned  his  "con- 
have  observed,  to  meet  at 
ery  on  the  2gth  of  April,  to 
uresfor  prosecuting  the  war, 
and  defensive.  At  that  time 
erates  had  seized  property 
the  United  States  valued  at 


DEAD  MEN  TELL  NO  TALES,  BUT  THIS  PICTURE  TELLS  A  TALE  THAT  CAXNOT 

HE  FORGOTTEN 


thousand  men  in  an  in- 
jealous  pride  of  the  Gen- 
fended  by  the  superior 
nate.  He  reproved  him 
orders,  and  demanded 
Depart- 
n  a  t  u  r  e  d 
Butler,  but 
field  of  oper- 
commission. 
enabled  to 
more  from 
die  of  May, 
well  pro 
as  absolute- 
insurgents, 
sumed  the 
Conf ed- 
their  ener- 
to  the  field 
public.  Da- 
gress,"  as  we 
Montgom- 
take  meas- 
offensive 
the  Confed- 
belonging  to 
field,  more  than 


; 


,000,000,  and  had  forty  thousand  armed  men  in  the 
one-half  of  whom  were  then  in  Virginia,  and  forming  an  irregular  line  from  Norfolk  to  Harper's  Ferry. 
At  the  beginning  of  May  they  had  sent  emissaries  abroad  to  seek  recognition  and  aid  from  foreign  govern 
ments.  They  had  extinguished  the  lamps  of  the  light-houses,  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  in  number, 
all  along  the  coasts  of  the  Republic,  from  Hampton  Roads  to  the  Rio  Grande,  and  had  commissioned 
numerous  "privateers"  to  prey  upon  the  commerce  of  the  United  States.  Encouraged  by  their  success  at 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


155 


LONG  BRIDGE  ACROSS  THE  POTOMAC 


VIEW  OK  GEORGETOWN 


156 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


Charleston,  they  were  then  besieging  Fort  Pickens,  as  we  have  observed,  and  were  using  prodigious 
exertions  to  obtain  possession  of  the  National  capital. 

The  magnitude  of  the  disaffection  to  the  National  Government  was  now  more  clearly  perceived ;  and 
the  President,  satisfied  that  the  number  of  militia  called  for  would  not  be  adequate  for  the  required  service 
against  the  wide-spreading  rebellion,  issued  a  proclamation  on  the  3d  of  May,  calling  for  sixty-four  thousand 
volunteers  for  the  army,  and  eighteen  thousand  for  the  navy,  to  ' '  serve  during  the  war. ' '  Fortress  Monroe, 
a  very  important  fort  in  Southeastern  Virginia,  and  Fort  Pickens,  near  Pensacola,  were  reinforced;  and 
the  blockade  of  the  Southern  ports,  from  which  "privateers"  were  preparing  to  sail,  was  proclaimed. 
Washington  city  was  made  the  general  rendezvous  of  all  troops  raised  eastward  of  the  Alleghany  mountains. 
These  came  nocking  thither  by  thousands,  and  were  quartered  in  the  Patent-Office  building  and  other 
edifices,  and  the  Capitol  was  made  a  vast  citadel.  Its  legislative  halls,  the  rotunda,  and  other  rooms  were 
filled  with  soldiery;  so  also  was  the  great  East  Room  in  the  President's  house.  The  basements  of  the 
Capitol  were  converted  into  store-rooms  for  barrels  of  flour,  beef  and  pork,  and  other  commissary  stores. 
The  vaults  under  the  broad  terrace  on  its  western  front  were  converted  into  bakeries,  where  sixteen 
thousand  loaves  of  bread  were  baked  each  day. 

Before  the  summer  of  1861  had  fairly  begun,  Washington  was  an  immense  garrisoned  town,  and  strong 
fortifications  were  growing  upon  the  hills  that  surround  it.  The  States  westward  of  the  Alleghanies  were 
also  pouring  out  their  thousands  of  armed  men,  who  were  gathered  at  appointed  rendezvous;  and  every 
department  of  the  National  Government  was  active  in  preparation  for  the  great  conflict  of  mighty  hosts 
that  were  to  fight,  one  party  for  freedom  and  the  other  for  slavery. 


ALEXANDRIA,  FROM  CAMP  OF  44711  NEW  YORK  VOLUNTEERS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


157 


CONFEDERATE  WOUNDED  AT  SMITH'S  BARN,  DR.  HURD  OF  THE  I.STII   INDIANA  IN  ATTENDANCE 


158  A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHAPTER   X. 

Defection  of  Colonel  Lee — Temptation  and  Fall — First  Invasion  of  Virginia — Death  of  Colonel  Ellsworth — Blockade  of  the  Potomac — 
Engagement  at  Sewall's  Point — Loyalty  in  Western  Virginia — Action  of  the  Secessionists — Conventions — Creation  and  Admission 
of  a  New  State — Troops  from  Beyond  the  Ohio — The  First  Battle  on  Land — Attitude  of  the  Border  States — Kentucky  Unionism — 
Events  in  Missouri — General  Lyon — The  Governor  of  Missouri  Raises  the  Standard  of  Revolt — Movements  in  Tennessee — • 
Pillow  and  Polk — Change  in  the  Confederate  Seat  of  Government — Jefferson  Davis  in  Virginia — His  Reception  in  Richmond. 

THE  Confederates  acquired  much  strength  at  the  beginning,  by  the  defection  of  Colonel  Robert  E. 
Lee,  an  accomplished  engineer  officer  in  the  National  army,  and  one  who  was  greatly  beloved  and 
thoroughly  trusted  by  the  General-in-Chief,  Scott.     Temptation  assailed  him  in  the  form  of  an 
offer  of  the  supreme  command  of  the  military  and  naval  forces  of  his  native  State,  Virginia.     It  was 
rendered  more  potent  by  the  doctrine  of  State  supremacy;    and  it  so  weakened  his  patriotism  that  he 


MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER  AND  STAFF 

yielded  to  the  tempter.  And  when  the  Convention  of  Virginia  passed  an  Ordinance  of  Secession,  he 
resigned  his  commission,  deserted  his  flag,  and  took  up  arms  against  his  Government,  saying,  in  the 
common  language  of  men  of  the  State-supremacy  school :  "I  must  go  with  my  State. ' '  He  had  lingered 
in  Washington  city  for  a  week  after  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter;  and  received  from  General  Scott, 
without  giving  a  hint  of  his  secret  determination,  all  information  possible  from  that  confiding  friend, 
concerning  the  plans  and  resources  of  the  Government,  to  be  employed  in  suppressing  the  rebellion.  With 
this  precious  treasury  of  important  knowledge,  Lee  hastened  to  Richmond,  and  was  cordially  received 
there,  with. marks  of  great  distinction,  by  the  vice-president  of  the  Confederacy  and  officers  of  his  State, 
and  was  informed  that  the  supreme  command  of  the  forces  of  the  Commonwealth  was  committed  to  his 
care. 

No  man  had  stronger  inducements  to  be  a  loyal  and  patriotic  citizen  than  Robert  E.  Lee.  His 
associations  with  the  founders  of  the  Republic  he  tried  to  destroy  were  very  strong.  He  was  a  son  of  that 
"Lowland  Beauty"  who  was  the  object  of  Washington's  first  love.  His  father  was  glorious  "Legion 
Harry"  of  the  Revolution,  whose  sword  had  been  gallantly  used  in  gaining  the  independence  of  the 
American  people;  and  he  had  led  an  army  to  crush  an  insurrection.  Colonel  Lee's  wife  \vas  a  great- 
granddaughter  of  Mrs.  Washington.  And  his  beautiful  home,  called  Arlington,  near  Washington  city, 
inherited  from  the  adopted  son  of  Washington,  was  filled  with  plate,  china  and  furniture  that  had  been 
used  by  the  beloved  patriot  at  Mount  Vernon. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


159 


OFFICERS  OF  A  NEW  YORK  REGIMENT — Do  You  KNOW  THEM? 


ORDNANCE  YARD,  MORRIS  ISLAND,  S.  C. 


160 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHRONOLOGICAL  SUMMARY  AND  RECORD— Continued 


JULY,  1862 — Continued  from  Section  4 
11_ Williamsburg,  Va.     Confed.  3  killed. 

Pleasant  Hill,  Mo.     1st  Iowa  Cav.,  Mo.  Militia.      Union  10  killed,  19 

wounded.     Confed.  G  killed,  5  wounded. 
12 — Lebanon,   Ky.     28th   Ky.,   Lebanon   Home   Guards   (Morgan's   Raid). 

Union  2  killed,  65  prisoners. 
Near  Culpepper,  Va.     1st  Md.,  1st  Vt.,  1st  W.  Va.,  5th  N.  Y.  Cav. 

Confed.  1  killed,  5  wounded. 

13— Murfreesboro',  Tenn.  9th  Mich.,  3d  Minn.,  4th  Ky.  Cay.,  7th  Pa.  Cav.. 
1st  Ky.  Battery.  Union  33  killed,  62  wounded,  800  missing.  Confed' 
50  killed,  100  wounded. 

14 — Batesville,  Ark.     4th  Iowa  Cav.     Union  1  killed,  4  wounded. 
16 — Attempt  to  destroy  4th  Wis.,  Gunboats  Carondelet,  Queen  of  the  West. 
Tyler  and  Essex.      Union  13  killed,  36  wounded.      Confed.  5  killed,  9 
wounded. 

Apache  Pass,  Ariz.     2d  Cal.  Cav.      Union  1  wounded. 
Fayetteville,  Ark.     Detachment  of  Cavalry,  under  command  of  Maj. 

W.  H.  Miller.     Confed.  150  captured. 

Near  Decatur,  Tenn.    Detachment  of  1st  Ohio  Cav.     Union  4  wounded. 
17 — Cynthiana,  Ky.      18th  Ky.,  7th  Ky.  Cav.,  Cynthiana,  Newport,  Cincin 
nati  and    Bracken   Co.    Home   Guards   (Morgan's   Raid).      Union    17 
killed,  34  wounded.     Confed.  8  killed,  29  wounded. 
18 — Memphis,  Mo.     2d  Mo.  Cav.,  9th  and  llth  Mo.  State  Militia.      Union 

13  killed,  35  wounded.     Confed.  23  killed. 

20  to  September  20 — Guerrilla  Campaign  in  Missouri.     Gen.  Schofield's  Com 
mand.      Union   77   killed,    156   wounded,    347   missing.      Confed.    506 
killed,  1,800  wounded,  560  missing. 
23 — Florida,  Mo.     Two  Cos.  3d  Iowa  Cav.      Union  22  wounded.     Confed. 

3  killed. 

Columbus,  Mo.     7th  Mo.  Cav.     Union  2  wounded. 
24 — Trinity,  Ala.     Co.  E  31st  Ohio.      Union  2  killed,  11  wounded.     Confed. 

12  killed,  30  wounded. 
Near  Florida,  Mo.     3d  Iowa  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  2  wounded.  Confed. 

1  killed,  12  wounded. 

24  and  26 — Santa  Fe,  Mo.     3d  Iowa  Cav.      Union  2  killed,  13  wounded. 
26 — Courtland  Bridge,  Ala.     Two  Cos.  10th  Ky.,  two  Cos.  1st  Ohio  Cav. 

Union  100  captured. 
26  and  26 — Mountain  Store  and  Big  Piney,  Mo.     Three  Cos.  3d  Mo.  Cav., 

Battery  L  2d  Mo.  Artil.     Confed.  5  killed. 
26 — Young's   Cross   Roads,    N.    C.     9th   N.   J..   3d    N.   Y.    Cav.     Union  7 

wounded.      Confed.  4  killed,   13  wounded. 
Greenville,    Mo.     3d   and    12th    Mo.    Militia   Cav.      Union  2  killed.   5 

wounded. 
28 — Bayou  Barnard,  Ind.  Ter.     1st,  2d  and  3d  Kan.  Home  Guards,  1st  Kan. 

Battery.      No  casualties  recorded. 

Moore's   Mills,   Mo.     9th   Mo.,  3d  Iowa  Cav.,  2d   Mo.   Cav.,  3d  Ind. 
Battery.      Union    19    killed,    21    wounded.     Confed.    30    killed,    100 
wounded. 
29 — Bollinger's  Mills,  Mo.     Two  Cos.  13th  Mo.     Confed.  10  killed. 

Russelville,     Ky.     7th     Ind.,     Russelville     Home     Guards.      Union     1 

wounded. 
Brownsville,  Tenn.     One  Co.  15th  111.  Cav.      Union  4  killed,  G  wounded. 

Confed.  4  killed,  G  wounded. 

30 — Paris,  Ky.     9th  Pa.  Cav.     Confed.  27  killed,  39  wounded. 
31 — Coggins'    Point,    opposite    Harrison's    Landing,    Va.     U.    S.    Gunboat 
Fleet.      Union  10  killed,  15  wounded.     Confed.  1  killed,  G  wounded. 

AUGUST,  1862 

1 — Newark,    Mo.     Seventy-three    men    of   the    llth    Mo.    State    Militia. 
Union    4   killed,    4    wounded,    60   captured.     Confed.    73   killed   and 
wounded. 
2 — Ozark  or  Forsythe,  Mo.      14th  Mo.  State  Militia.      Union  1  wounded. 

Confed.  3  killed,  7  wounded. 
Orange  C.  H..  Va.     5th  N.  Y.  Cav.,  1st  Vt.  Cav.      Union  4  killed.  12 

wounded.     Confed.  11  killed,  52  captured. 
Clear  Creek  or  Taberville,   Mo.     Four  Cos.   1st  Iowa  Cav.     Union  5 

killed,  14  wounded.      Confed.  11  killed. 
Coahomo  Co.,  Miss,     llth  Wis.      Union  5  wounded. 
3— Sycamore  Church,  near  Petersburg,  Va.     3d  Pa.  Cav.,  5th  U.  S.  Cav. 

Union  2  wounded.     Confed.  G  wounded. 
Chariton  Bridge,  Mo.     Gth  Mo.  Cav.     Union  2  wounded.     Confed.  11 

killed,  14  wounded. 

Jonesboro',  Ark.     1st  Wis.  Cav.      Union  4  killed,  2  wounded,  21  missing. 
Lauguelle  Ferry,  Ark.     1st  Wis.  Cav.      Union  17  killed,  38  wounded. 
4 — Sparta,  Tenn.     Detachments  of  4th  Ky.  and  7th  Ind.  Cav.      Union  1 

killed. 
White  Oak  Swamp  Bridge,  Va.     3d  Pa.  Cav.     Confed.  10  wounded,  28 

captured. 
6 — Baton  Rouge,  La. 


.  -.  . 

Malvern  Hill,  Va.  Portion  of  Hooker's  Div.,  Third  Corps  and  Richard 
son's  Div.,  Second  Corps  and  Cavalry,  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Union 
3  killed,  11  wounded.  Confed.  100  captured. 


,  .  .  . 

Montevallo,  Mo.     3d  Wis.  Cav.      Union  1  wounded,  3  missing. 
Beech  Creek,  W.  Va.     4th  W.  Va.      Union  3  killed,  8  wounded.     Confed. 

1  killed,  11  wounded. 
Kirksville,    Mo.      Mo.   State    Militia.      Union   28  killed,   60  wounded. 

Confed.  128  killed,  200  wounded. 
Matapony  or  Thornburg,  Va.      Detachment  of  King's  Division.      Union 

1  killed,  12  wounded,  72  missing. 
Tazewell,  Tenn.     10th  and  42d  Ohio,  14th  and  22d  Ky.,  4th  Wis.  Bat 

tery.      Union  3  killed,   23  wounded,   50  missing.     Confed.   9  killed, 

40  wounded. 


7— Trenton,  Tenn.     2d  111.  Cav.     Confed.  30  killed,  20  wounded. 

8 — Panther  Creek,  Mo.      1st  Mo.  Militia  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  4  wounded. 

9 — Stockton,  Mo.      Col.  McNeil's  command  of  Mo.  State  Militia.      Confed. 

13  killed,  36  missing. 

Cedar  Mountain,  Va.,  also  called  Slaughter  Mountain,  Southwest 
Mountain,  Cedar  Run  and  Mitchell's  Station.  Second  Corps.  Maj.- 
Gen.  Banks;  Third  Corps,  Maj. -Gen.  McDowell.  Army  of  Virginia, 
under  command  of  Maj. -Gen.  Pope.  Union  450  killed,  660  wounded, 
290  missing.  Con-fed.  229  killed,  1,047  wounded,  31  missing.  Union 
Brig. -Gens.  Augur,  Carroll,  and  Geary  wounded.  Confed.  Brig.- 
Gen.  C.  S.  Winder  killed. 
10 — Nueces  River,  Tex.  Texas  Loyalists.  Union  40  killed.  Confed.  8 

killed,    14  wounded. 

10  to  13 — Grand  River,  Lee's  Ford,   Chariton  River.  Walnut  Creek,   Comp- 
ton  Ferry,  Switzler's  Mills  and  Yellow  Creek,  Mo.      9th  Mo.  Militia, 
Union  100  killed  and  wounded. 
11 — Independence,  Mo.    7th  Mo.  Militia  Cav.     Union  14  killed,  18  wounded, 

312  missing. 

Helena,  Ark.     2d  Wis.  Cav.     Union  1  killed.  2  wounded. 
Wyoming  C.  H.,  W.  Va.     Detachment  of  37th  Ohio.      Union  2  killed. 
Kinderhook,  Tenn.     Detachments  of  3d  Ky.  and  1st  Tenn.  Cav.      Union 

3  killed.     Confed.  7  killed. 
12— Galatin,  Tenn.     2d  Ind.,  4th  and  5th  Ky.,   1st  Pa.   Cav.      Union  30 

killed,  50  wounded,  200  captured.     Confed.  6  killed,  18  wounded. 
13— Galatin,    Tenn.      13th   and   69th    Ohio,    llth    Mich.,    drove   the    Con 
federates  from  the  town  with  slight  loss. 
Clarendon,  Ark.     Brig. -Gen.  Hovey's  Div.  of  the  13th  Corps.     Confed. 

700  captured. 
16 — Merri weather's  Ferry,  Tenn.     One  Co.  2d  111.  Cav.      Union  3  killed,  6 

wounded.     Confed.  20  killed. 
16 — Lone  Jack,   Mo.      Mo.    Militia  Cav.      Union  60  killed,   100  wounded. 

Confed.  110  killed  and  wounded. 
18 — Capture  of  Rebel  steamer  Fair  play,  near  Milliken's  Bend,  La.     58th  and 

7Gth  Ohio.     Confed.  40  prisoners. 
19 — Clarksville,  Tenn.     71st  Ohio.      Union  200  captured. 

White  Oak  Ridge,  near  Hickman,  Ky.     2d  111.  Cav.      Union  2  wounded. 

Confed.  4  killed. 
20 — Brandy  Station,  Va.     Cavalry  of  Army  of  Virginia.     Confed.  3  killed,  12 

wounded. 
Edgefield  Junction,  Tenn.     Detachment  of  50th  Ind.     Confed.  8  killed, 

18  wounded. 
Union   Mills,   Mo.      1st   Mo.   Cav.,    13th  111.   Cav.      Union  4  killed,  3 

wounded.     Confed.  1  killed. 

21 — Pinckney  Island,  S.  C.     Union  3  killed,  3  wounded. 
22 — Courtland,  Tenn.     42d  111.      Union  2  wounded.     Confed.  8  killed. 
23— Big  Hill,  Madison  Co..  Ky.     3d  Tenn.,  7th  Ky.  Cav.      Union  10  killed. 

40  wounded  and  missing.     Confed.  25  killed. 

23  to  25 — Skirmishes  on  the  Rappahannock  at  Waterloo  Bridge,  Lee  Springs. 
Freeman's  Ford  and  Sulphur  Springs,  Va.  Army  of  Virginia,  under 
Maj. -Gen.  Pope.  Confed.  27  killed,  94  wounded.  Union  Brig. -Gen. 
Bohlen  captured. 

23  to  Sept.   1 — Pope's  Campaign  in  Virginia.     Army  of  Virginia.      Union 
7,000    killed,    wounded    and    missing.     Confed.    1,500    killed,    8,000 
wounded. 
24 — Dallas,  Mo.     12th  Mo.  Militia  Cav.      Union  3  killed,  1  wounded. 

Coon  Creek  or  Lamar,  Mo.      Union  2  killed,  22  wounded. 

26  and  26 — -Fort  Donelson  and  Cumberland  Iron  Works,  Tenn.  7lst  Ohio, 
5th  Iowa  Cav.  Union  31  killed  and  wounded.  Confed.  30  killed 
and  wounded. 

Bloomfield,  Mo.     13th  111.  Cav.     Confed.  20  killed  and  wounded. 
26 — Rienzi  and  Kossuth,   Miss.     2d  Iowa  Cav.,  7th  Kan.  Cav.      Union  5 

killed,   12  wounded. 

27— Bull  Run  Bridge,  Va.  llth  and  12th  Ohio,  1st,  2d.  3d  and  4th  N.  J. 
Union  Brig.-Gen.  G.  W.  Taylor  mortally  wounded. 

Kettle  Run,  Va.  Maj. -Gen.  Hooker's  Div.  of  Third  Corps.  Union  300 
killed  and  wounded.  Confed.  300  killed  and  wounded. 

28 — Readyville  or  Round  Hill,  Tenn.  10th  Brigade  Army  of  Ohio.  Union 
5  wounded. 

28  and  29— Groveton  and  Gainesville,  Va.  First  Corps,  Maj. -Gen.  Sigel, 
Third  Corps,  Maj. -Gen.  McDowell,  Army  of  Virginia,  Hooker's  and 
Kearney's  Division  of  Third  Corps,  and  Reynolds'  Division  of  First 
Corps,  Army  of  Potomac,  Ninth  Corps,  Maj. -Gen.  Reno.  Union  7.000 
killed,  wounded  and  missing.  Confed.  7,000  killed,  wounded  and 
missing. 

29 — Manchester,  Tenn.     Two  Cos.  ISth  Ohio,  one  Co.  9th  Mich.     Confed. 

100  killed  and  wounded. 

30 — Second  Battle  of  Bull  Run  or  Manassas.  Va.  Same  troops  as  engaged 
at  Groveton  and  Gainesville  on  the  28th  and  29th.  with  the  addition 
of  Porter's  Fifth  Corps.  Union  SOO  killed,  4,000  wounded,  3,000 
missing.  Confed.  700  killed,  3.000  wounded. 

Bolivar,  Tenn.  20th  and  78th  Ohio,  2d  and  llth  III.  Cav..  9th  Ind.  Art. 
Union  5  killed,  IS  wounded,  64  missing.  Confed.  100  killed  and 
wounded. 

McMinnville,  Tenn.  26th  Ohio,  17th  and  5Sth  Ind.,  Sth  Ind.  Battery. 
Confed.  1  killed,  20  wounded. 

Richmond,  Ky.  12th,  16th,  55th.  66th,  69th  and  71st  Ind.,  95th  Ohio. 
18th  Ky.,  Gth  and  7th  Ky.  Cav.,  Batteries  D  and  G  Mich.  Art. 
Union  200  killed,  700  wounded,  4,000  missing.  Confed.  250  killed, 
500  wounded. 

31— Medon  Station,  Tenn.  45th  III.,  7th  Mo.  Union  3  killed,  13  wounded, 
43  missing. 

Yates'  Ford,  Ky.     94th  Ohio.      Union  3  killed,  10  wounded. 
(Continued  in  Section  6) 


MEADE        AT        GETTYSBURG,        JULY        2.        186 


THE    WAH     MEMORIAL     ASSOCIATION 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


161 


CONFEDERATE  BATTERIES  AT  HOWLETT  HOUSE,  TRENT'S  REACH,  JAMES  RIVER 


162 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


COLONEL,  LATER  GENERAL,  LEW  WALLACE 


CHAPTER  X.— Continued. 

THESE  considerations,  so  calculated  to  expand  the  generous 
soul  with  National  pride  and  make  the  possession  of  citi 
zenship  of  a  great  nation  a  cherished  honor  and  privilege,  seem  to  have 
had  no  influence  with  Colonel  Lee.  The  narrow  political  creed  of 
his  class  of  thinkers  taught  no  broader  doctrines  of  citizenship  than 
the  duty  of  allegiance  to  a  petty  State  whose  flag  is  utterly  un 
known  beyond  our  shores — an  insignificant  portion  of  a  great  Re 
public  whose  flag  is  honored  and  respected  on  every  sea  and  in  every 
port  of  the  civilized  world.  Acting  upon  these  narrow  views, 
Colonel  Lee  said,  "I  must  go  with  my  State ;"  and  going,  he  took 
with  him  precious  information  which  enabled  him  to  make  valuable 
suggestions  to  the  insurgents  concerning  the  best  methods  for 
seizing  the  National  capital.  In  time  Colonel  Lee  became  the 
general-in-chief  of  all  the  armies  in  rebellion  against  his  Govern 
ment,  at  whose  expense  he  had  been  educated  in  the  art  of  war. 
Colonel  Lee  advised  the  Virginians  to  erect  a  battery  of  heavy 
guns  on  Arlington  Heights,  not  far  from  his  own  home,  which 
would  command  the  cities  of  Washington  and  Georgetown.  They 
were  about  to  follow  this  advice,  when,  late  in  May,  their  plans 
were  frustrated  by  the  General-in-Chief,  who  sent  National  troops 
across  the  Potomac  to  the  Virginia  shore  by  way  of  the  Long 
Bridge  at  Washington,  and  the  Aqueduct  Bridge  at  Georgetown, 
to  take  possession  of  Alexandria  and  Arlington  Heights.  Ells 
worth's  New  York  Fire  Zouaves  went  to  Alexandria  in  two  schooners,  at  the  same  time,  to  be  assisted  by 

a  third  column  that  crossed  the  river  at  the  Long  Bridge. 

The  troops  that  first  passed  the  Long  Bridge  constructed  a  battery  at  the  Virginia  end  of  it,  which 

they  named  Fort  Runyon,  in  compliment  to  General  Runyon  of  New  Jersey,  who  was  in  command  of  a 

part  of  them.     The  troops  that  passed  Aqueduct  Bridge  were  led  by  General  Irwin  McDowell;  and  upon 

the  spot  where  Lee  proposed  to  erect  a  battery  of  siege-guns,  to 

destroy  the  capital,  the  troops  erected  a  redoubt  to  defend  it, 

which  they  named  Fort  Corcoran,  in  compliment  to  the  com 
mander  of  an  Irish  regiment  among  them.     These  were  the  first 

redoubts  constructed  by  the  National  troops  in  the  Civil  War; 

and  this  was  the  initial  movement  of  the  Government  forces  in 

opening  the  first  campaigns  of  that  war.     It  occurred  on  the 

morning  of  the  24th  of  May,  1861. 

The  troops  sent  by  land  and  water  reached  Alexandria  about 

the  same  time,  and  took  possession  of  the  city.     They  seized  the 

Orange  and  Alexandria  railway  station  and  much  rolling  stock, 

with  some  Virginia  cavalry  who  were  guarding  it.     The  Seces 
sionists  in  the  city  were  defiant ;  and  one  of  them,  the  keeper  of  a 

tavern,  persisted  in  flying  the  Confederate  flag  over  his  house. 

The  impetuous  young  Ellsworth  proceeded  to  pull  it  down  with 

his  own  hands,  when  the  proprietor  shot  him    dead,  and  was 

killed,  in  turn,  by  one  of  the  Zouaves.     This  tragedy  caused  great 

bitterness  in  both  sections  of  the  country  for  a  time. 

Meanwhile  the  Confederates  had  erected  batteries  on  the 

Virginia  shores  of  the  Potomac  River  to  obstruct  its  navigation  by 

National  vessels.     They  had  also  cast  up  redoubts  near  Hampton 

Roads,  not  far  from  Fortress  Monroe.     Captain  J.  H.  Ward  was  COLONEL  B.  F.  KELLEY 


NOTE— EXPLANATION  OF  THE  COLORED  FRONTISPIECE  MEADE  AT  GETTYSBURG— The  scene  is  the  famous  "wheat-field,"  the  time 
about  sunset  on  July  2,  IHIiii,  the  second  day  at  Gettysburg.  At  six  o'clock  General  Sickles  had  been  wounded  and  carried  from  the  field.  The  desperate 
conflict  for  the  possession  of  Little  Round-Top  is  still  going  on.  The  hill  in  the  background  of  our  picture,  wreathed  in  smoke,  shows  the  distant  conflict; 
General  Hancock,  in  the  right  foreground,  has  ridden  up  to  report  to  General  Meade.  They  face  each  other  while  Hancock  points  to  the  battlefield.  General 
Meade,  field  glasses  in  hand,  is  ordering  Hancock  to  take  command  of  Sickles'  Third  Corps,  now  under  Birney,  anil  engaged  in  the  battle.  A  line  of  Federal 
troops,  their  colors  gleaming  in  the  sun,  is  just  moving  down  to  engage  in  the  conflict.  Twice  the  Federal  center  had  been  pierced.  The  slaughter  has  been 
terrible.  That  night,  when  darkness  ends  the  battle,  there  is  still  doubt  where  the  advantage  lies.  But  on  the  next  day  the  tide  turned,  and  Lee,  defeated, 
was  sent  marching  back  toward  Virginia. 


Copyright,  1895.  by  CHARLES  F.  JOHNSON.     Copyright,  1905,  by  LOSSING  HISTORY  COMPANY.     Copyright,  1912,  by  THE  WAR  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


163 


164 


A    II I  STORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


sent  to  the  Roads  with  a  flotilla  of  armed  vessels.  The  insurgents  then  possessed  Norfolk,  and  had  erected 
a  battery  on  Sewall's  point  at  the  mouth  of  the  Elizabeth  River,  where,  on  the  morning  of  the  2oth  of  May, 
when  Ward's  vessels  appeared  in  the  Roads,  there  were  about  two  thousand  Confederate  soldiers.  Ward 
opened  the  guns  of  his  flag-ship  (the  Freeborn)  upon  the  battery.  It  was  soon  silenced,  and  the  insurgents 
were  dispersed.  Then  Ward  proceeded  immediately  up  the  Potomac  toward  Washington,  after  reporting 
to  Commodore  Stringham,  and  patrolled  that  important  stream.  At  Aquia  Creek,  about  sixty  miles 
below  Washington,  he  encountered  some  heavy  batteries,  and  a  sharp  but  indecisive  engagement  ensued 
on  the  first  of  June.  Soon  afterward,  in  an  attack  upon  other  batteries  at  Matthias's  Point,  the  flotilla 
was  repulsed,  and  Captain  Ward  was  killed.  At  that  place  and  vicinity  the  Confederates  established 
batteries  which  defied  the  National  vessels  on  those  waters;  and  for  many  months,  the  Potomac,  as  a 
highway  for  supplies  for  the  army  near  Washington,  was  effectively  blockaded  by  them. 

The  Union  element  in   the  Virginia  Secession  Convention  was  chiefly  from  Western  Virginia,   a 


mountain  district,  where  the 
been  profitable;  and  the 
to  the  old  flag  gave  the  Vir- 
easiness.  At  the  very  be- 
perceived  the  importance  of 
region,  and  so  control  the 
way  that  traversed  it,  and 
the  teeming  West.  For  that 
from  Richmond  to  restrain 
people,  when  the  latter  flew 
ship  of  Colonel  B.  F.  Kelley, 
shire,  who  set  up  his  stand- 
an  important  political 
ken  place  which  later  divi- 
Before  the  adjournment 
mond  the  inhabitants  of 
the  necessity  of  making  a 
and  their  own  independence 
the  State  in  the  interests  of 
meeting  was  held  at  Clarks- 
timore  and  Ohio  railway,  on 


NEWS  BOYS  ix  CAMP 


slave-labor  system  had  not 
loyalty  of  the  people  there 
ginia  conspirators  much  un- 
ginning  the  Confederates 
holding  possession  of  that 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Rail- 
connected  Maryland  with 
purpose  troops  were  sent 
the  active  patriotism  of  the 
to  arms  under  the  leader- 
a  native  of  New  Hamp- 
ard  near  Wheeling,  where 
movement  had  already  ta- 
ded  the  State, 
of  the  Convention  at  Rich- 
Western  Virginia  perceived 
bold  stand  for  the  Union 
of  the  oligarchy  that  ruled 
the  slaveholders.  This  first 
burg,  on  the  line  of  the  Bal- 
the  22d  of  April.  John  S. 


Carlisle,  a  member  of  the  Convention  then  sitting  at  Richmond,  offered  a  resolution  at  that  meeting 
(which  was  adopted)  calling  a  Convention  of  delegates  at  Wheeling  on  the  i^th  of  May.  Similar  meetings 
were  held  at  other  places.  One  at  Kingswood,  Preston  county,  declared  that  the  separation  of  Western 
from  Eastern  Virginia  was  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  their  liberties.  They  also  resolved  to  elect  a 
representative  to  sit  in  the  National  Congress;  and  at  a  mass  Convention  held  at  Wheeling  on  the  5th  of 
May,  it  was  resolved  to  sever  all  political  connection  with  the  conspirators  at  Richmond. 

The  Convention  of  delegates  met  at  Wheeling  on  the  i.sth  of  May.  The  National  flag  was  unfurled 
over  the  Custom-House  there  with  appropriate  demonstrations  of  loyalty;  and  in  the  Convention  the 
chief  topic  of  discussion  was  the  division  of  the  State  and  the  formation  of  a  new  Commonwealth  composed 
of  forty  or  fifty  counties  of  the  mountain  region.  It  was  asserted  in  the  Convention  that  the  slave  oligarchy 
eastward  of  the  mountains,  and  in  all  the  tide-water  counties,  wielded  the  political  power  of  the  State, 
and  used  it  for  the  promotion  of  their  great  interest,  in  the  levying  of  taxes,  and  in  lightening  their  own 
burdens  at  the  expense  of  the  labor  and  thrift  of  the  citizens  of  West  Virginia.  These  considerations,  and 
an  innate  love  for  the  Union,  produced  such  unanimity  of  sentiment  that  the  labors  of  the  secret  emissaries 
of  the  conspirators,  and  of  the  open  service  of  recruiting  officers  were  almost  fruitless  in  Western  Virginia. 
The  Convention  itself  was  a  unit  in  feeling  and  purpose;  but  it  was  too  informal  in  its  character  to  take 
decisive  action  upon  the  momentous  question  of  a  division  of  the  State.  So,  after  condemning  the  Ordi 
nance  of  Secession,  a  resolution  was  adopted,  calling  a  Provisional  Convention,  at  the  same  place,  on  the 
nth  of  June,  unless  the  people  should  vote  adversely  to  that  Ordinance,  at  the  appointed  time. 

The  proceedings  at  Wheeling  alarmed  the  conspirators.  They  expected  an  immediate  revolt  in 
that  region;  and  Governor  Letcher  ordered  Colonel  Porterfield,  who  was  in  command  of  State  troops  at 
Grafton,  to  seize  and  carry  away  the  arms  at  Wheeling  belonging  to  the  United  States,  and  to  use  them 
in  arming  such  men  as  might  rally  around  his  flag.  He  also  told  Porterfield  that  it  was  "advisable  to  cut 
off  telegraphic  communication  between  Wheeling  and  Washington,  so  that  the  disaffected  at  the  former 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


165 


166 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


place  could  not  communicate  with  their  allies  at  headquarters."  Letcher  added:  "If  troops  from  Ohio 
or  Pennsylvania  shall  be  attempted  to  be  passed  on  the  railroads,  do  not  hesitate  to  obstruct  their  passage 
by  all  means  in  your  power,  even  to  the  destruction 
of  the  road  and  bridge." 

As  we  have  observed,  the  people  in  Eastern  Vir 
ginia,  under  the  pressure  of  the  bayonet,  ratified  the 
Ordinance  of  Secession.     The  Provisional  Convention 
assembled  at  Wheeling  on  the  appointed  day,  when 
about  forty  counties  were  represented.     The  meeting 
was  held  in  the  Custom-house,  with  Arthur  Boreman 
president,  and  G.  L.  Cranmer  secretary.     A  Bill  of 
Rights,  reported  by  J.  S.  Carlile,  was  adopted;  all 
allegiance  to  the  Southern  Confederacy  was  denied ;  a 
resolution  was  passed  declaring  the  determination  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Virginianever  to  submit  to  theOrdi- 
nance  of  Secession,  but  to  maintain  the  rights  of  the 
Commonwealth  in  the  Union;    and  all  citizens  who 
had  taken  up  arms  against  the  Na 
tional  Government  were  exhorted  to 
lay  them  down  and  return  to  their 
allegiance.     An  Ordinance  was  re 
ported  and  adopted  vacating  all  the 
offices  in  the  State  held  by  State 
in  hostility  to  the  General  Govern- 
also  providing  for  a  Provisional  gov- 
the  election  of  officers  for  a  period  of 
also  requiring  all  officers  of  the  State, 
towns,  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance 
tional    Government.      This    move- 
formally  deposed  Governor  Letcher 
officers  in  rebellion  against  the  Na- 
ernment,  but  not  a  secession  from 
purely      revolution- 
Convention  adopted 


of  independence  of 
ernment  of  Virginia, 
signed  by  fifty-six 
on  the  igth  a  Pro- 
ganized  by  the 
pont,  Provisional 
Polsley,  lieutenant- 
Council  of  five  mem- 
(June  20,  1861)  the 
tion  from  Eastern 
lution  adopted  by 
Mr.  Pierrepont 
He  at  once  notified 
States  that  an  insur- 
formidable  to  be 
and  called  for  aid 
ment  to  suppress  it. 
borrowed  money  for 
pledge  of  his  own 


L,-£ON FEDERATE  FORTIFICATIONS 


officers  acting 
ment,  and 
ernment  and 
•six  months ; 
counties  and 
to  the  Na- 
ment,  which 
and  all  State 
tional  Gov- 
the  State, was 
ary.  The 
a  declaration 
the  old  gov- 
which  was 
members;  and 

visional  government  was  or- 
choice  of  Francis  H.  Pierre- 
governor  of  the  State;  Daniel 
governor,  and  an  Executive 
bcrs.  On  the  following  day 
necessity  of  ultimate  separa- 
Virginia  was  favored  by  reso- 
unanimous  vote, 
was  a  bold  and  energetic  man. 
the  President  of  the  United 
rection  in  Virginia  was  ,too 
suppressed  by  local  power, 
from  the  National  Govern- 
He  organized  the  militia,  and 
the  public  service  on  the 
government"  against  the  extra- 


private    fortune.     He    upheld   the   "restored 

ordinary  efforts  of  the  conspirators  at  Richmond  to  crush  the  new  organization  and  enslave  the  loyal 
people.  A  Legislature  was  chosen,  and  at  its  session,  begun  at  Wheeling  on  the  ist  of  July, 
John  S.  Carlile  and  Waitman  G.  Willie  were  chosen  to  represent  the  restored  Commonwealth 
in  the  National  Congress.  Finally  a  convention  of  delegates,  held  in  November,  1861,  adopted  a  new 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


107 


CONFEDERATE  FORTIFICATIONS  AT  MAXASSAS 


168 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


State  Constitution,  in  which  Slavery  was  prohibited;  and  on  3d  of  May  following,  the  people  who  voted 
upon  it,  ratified  it. 

The  Legislature,  at  a  called  session,  approved  of  a  division  of  the  State,  and  the  establishment  of  a 
new  Commonwealth.  All  the  legal  requirements  having  been  complied  with,  the  western  counties,  by 
Act  of  Congress,  organized  under  a  constitution,  were  admitted  into  the  Union  under  the  title  of  the  State 
of  West  Virginia,  on  the  2oth  of  June,  1863;  and  Arthur  J.  Boreman  \vas  chosen  governor  of  the  new 
Commonwealth.  At  midsummer,  Old  Virginia  presented  the  curious  political  spectacle  of  Letcher,  at 
Richmond,  claiming  authority  over  the  whole  State;  Pierrepont,  at  Alexandria,  claiming  authority  over 
the  whole  old  State  excepting  West  Virginia,  and  Boreman,  at  Wheeling,  the  chief  executive  of  the  new 
Commonwealth,  as  legal  governor. 

The  Unionists  of  Western  Virginia  needed  help  from  the  beginning;  for  the  regiment  that  gathered 
around  Colonel  Kelley  at  Wheeling,  though  full  eleven  hundred  strong,  were  too  few  to  withstand  the 


GROUP  AT  ARLINGTON 

Confederate  forces  sent  against  them.  Already  General  George  B.  McClellan,  who  had  been  called  to  the 
command  of  the  Ohio  troops,  was  assigned  to  the  head  of  the  Department  of  the  Ohio,  which  included 
Western  Virginia.  With  Ohio  and  Indiana  troops  he  crossed  the  Ohio  River.  These,  with  Kelley's 
Virginians,  moved  on  Grafton  and  drove  Porterfield  and  his  Confederates  to  Philippi,  closely  pursued  by 
his  foes.  After  a  sharp  engagement  at  the  latter  place,  on  the  2d  of  June,  the  Confederates  were  dispersed, 
and,  for  a  while,  matters  were  quiet  in  that  region.  Kelley  was  severely  wounded  in  the  battle  at  Philippi. 
That  was  the  first  conflict  on  land  after  the  President's  call  for  troops. 

While  events  in  Western  Virginia  were  assuming  the  character  of  open  warfare  between  armed  forces, 
others  of  great  importance  were  occurring  westward  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains;  for,  so  early  as  the 
beginning  of  June,  civil  war  had  begun  wherever  the  system  of  slavery  prevailed.  Political  leaders  in  the 
"Border  States" — slave-labor  States  bordering  on  free-labor  States — took  a  position  which  finally  brought 
great  distress  upon  the  inhabitants  of  those  Commonwealths.  A  large  class  of  these  leaders  professed  to 
be  friends  of  the  Union,  but  conditionally.  They  would  be  its  friends  so  long  as  the  National  Government 
did  not  interfere  with  slavery,  nor  "attempt  to  bring  back  the  seceded  States; "  in  other  words,  they  were 
friends  of  the  Republic  so  long  as  its  Government  did  not  raise  a  finger  for  the  salvation  of  its  life.  When 
the  President's  call  for  troops  to  suppress  the  rebellion  appeared,  the  Louisville  Journal,  the  organ  of 
ihc  professed  Unionists  of  Kentucky,  hastened  to  say:  "We  are  struck  with  mingled  amazement  and 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


109 


a 

w 

(/> 
H 
SO 
d 

n 

H 

3 


170 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


.GENERAL  ROBERT  PATTERSON 


indignation.  The  policy  announced  in  the  proclamation  deserves  the  unqualified  condemnation  of  every 
American  citizen.  It  is  unworthy,  not  merely  of  a  statesman,  but  of  a  man.  It  is  a  policy  utterly  hare 
brained  and  ruinous.  If  Air.  Lincoln  contemplated  this  policy  in  his  inaugural  address,  he  is  a  guilty 

dissembler;  if  he  conceived  it  under  the  excitement  aroused  by  the 
seizure  of  Fort  Sumter,  he  is  a  guilty  Hotspur.  In  either  case,  he  is 
miserably  unfit  for  the  exalted  position  in  which  the  enemies  of  the 
country  have  placed  him.  Let  the  people  instantly  take  him  and 
his  administration  into  their  own  hands,  if  they  would  rescue  the 
land  from  bloodshed,  and  the  Union  from  sudden  and  irretrievable 
destruction."  And  at  a  large  "Union  meeting"  at  Louisville,  over 
which  James  Guthrie  and  other  leading  men  in  the  State  held  con 
trol,  it  was  resolved  that  "Kentucky  reserved  to  herself  the  right 
to  choose  her  own  position;  and  that,  while  her  natural  sym 
pathies  are  with  those  who  have  a  common  interest  in  the  protec 
tion  of  slavery,  she  still  acknowledges  her  loyalty  and  fealty  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  which  she  will  cheerfully  render 
until  that  Government  becomes  aggressive,  tyrannical,  and  regardless  of 
our  rights  in  slave  property."  They  declared  that  the  States  were 
peers  of  the  National  Government ;  and  gave  the  world  to  under 
stand  that  the  latter  should  not  be  allowed  to  ' '  use  sanguinary  or 
coercive"  measures  to  "bring  back  the  seceded  States."  The 
"Kentucky  State  Guard,"  which  the  governor  had  organized  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Secessionists,  were  commended  by  this  Union 
meeting  as  "the  bulwark  of  the  safety  of  the  Commonwealth,"  and 
its  members  were  enjoined  to  remember  that  they  were  "pledged 
equally"  to  fidelity  to  the  United  States  and  Kentucky. 

The  "Guard"  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Simon  B.  Buckner  of  the  National  army,  who  was  then  evidently  in  the  secret  service  of  the  Confederacy, 
for  he  used  his  position  effectively  in  seducing  large  numbers  of  the  members  of  the  "Guard"  from  their 
allegiance  to  the  old  flag,  and  sending  them  as  recruits  to  the  Confederate  armies.  It  was  not  long 
before  he  led  a  large  portion  of  them  into  the  camp  of  the  enemy,  and  he  became  a  Confederate  major- 
general.  Then  the  Louisville  Journal,  that  had  so  savagely  condemned  the  President,  more  savagely 
assailed  Buckner  with  curses,  saying:  "Away  with  your  pledges  and  assurances — with  your  protestations, 
apologies  and  proclamations — at  once  and  altogether !  Away,  parricide !  Away,  and  do  penance  for 
ever! — be  shriven  or  slain — away!  You  have  less  palliation  than  Attila — less  boldness,  magnanimity 
and  nobleness  than  Coriolanus.  You  are  the  Benedict  Arnold  of  the  day!  you  are  the  Cataline  of 
Kentucky!  Go,  thou  miscreant!"  And  when  in  February,  1862,  Buckner  and  some  of  the  "State 
Guard"  were  captured  at  Fort  Donelson,  and  he  was  sent  to  Fort  Warren,  Boston,  many  of  those  who 
were  deceived  by  the  pretence  that  the  "Guard"  were  the  "bulwark  of  the  Commonwealth,"  demanded 
his  delivery  to  the  authorities  of  Kentucky,  to  be  tried  for  treason  against  the  State.  That  was  after 
the  Legislature  of  that  State  had  refused  to  favor  the  scheme  of  the  disloyal  governor,  and  Kentucky 
was  feeling  the  effects  of  its  peculiar  "neutrality;"  a  sort  of  Unionism  that  caused  Missouri  and  Ken 
tucky  to  become  battle-fields,  and  to  suffer  untold  miseries.  Their  soil  was  trodden  and  ravaged  by 
contending  armies,  which  had  no  respect  for  what  was  known  as  "Kentucky  neutrality,"  for,  in  the  hands 
of  the  Secessionists  it  was  only  an  adroit  scheme  to  mislead  and  confuse  the  people,  a  large  majority  of 
whom  were  sincerely  attached  to  the  Union. 

Although  the  slaves  were  not  more  than  one-tenth  of  the  population  of  Missouri  and  the  best  interests 
of  the  State  were  allied  to  free-labor,  the  Slave  power,  wielded  by  the  most  active  politicians,  had  such 
potential  influence  that  it  controlled  the  destiny  of  that  State.  By  these  the  election  of  Claiborne  T. 
Jackson,  governor  of  Missouri,  was  effected,  and  he  was  now  one  of  the  most  active  of  the  Secessionists. 
His  political  friends  formed  a  plan  for  placing  the  militia  of  the  State  under  his  absolute  control  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Confederacy.  The  chief  leader  in  this  scheme  was  D.  M.  Frost,  of  New  York,  a  graduate 
of  West  Point,  who  was  commissioned  a  brigadier  and  placed  at  the  head  of  that  militia.  Frost  resolved 
to  seize  the  Arsenal  at  St.  Louis,  and  hold  possession  of  that  chief  city  of  the  Mississippi  Valley;  and  for 
this  purpose  he  formed  a  camp  near  the  town  with  the  pretext  of  disciplining  the  men  under  his  command. 
At  that  time  the  military  post  at  St.  Louis  was  in  charge  of  Captain  Nathaniel  M.  Lyon,  who  was  vigilant 
and  brave;  and  when  he  was  satisfied  of  Frost's  treacherous  designs,  he  marched  out  with  a  large  number 
of  volunteers,  surrounded  the  insurgent  camp,  and  made  the  leader  and  his  followers  prisoners. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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VIEWS  ON  THIC   TAMES  RIVER 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


It  was  now  late  in  May,  and  the  Secessionists  in  Missouri  took  open  issue  with  the  National  Govern 
ment.  The  latter,  satisfied  that  it  was  the  design  of  the  Confederates  to  hold  military  possession  of  that 
State  and  of  Kentucky,  fortified  Cairo,  Illinois,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers.  It 
was  made  impregnable,  and  became  of  immense  importance  to  the  Union  cause ;  for  there  some  of  the  land 

and  naval  expeditions  which  performed  sig 
nal  service  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi 
were  fitted  out. 

General  W.  S.  Harney,  a  conservative 
in  feeling,  was  at  the  head  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  West,  with  his  quarters  at  St. 
Louis.  He  returned  to  his  post,  after  a 
brief  absence,  when  the  excitement  was  at 
its  height.  Wishing  to  preserve  peace,  he 
made  a  compact  with  the  insurgent  leaders 
not  to  employ  the  military  arm  so  long  as 
they  should  preserve  public  order.  The 
loyal  people  were  alarmed,  for  they  would 
not  trust  the  promises  of  the  Secessionists. 
Happily  for  the  Union  cause,  the  National 
Government  did  not  sanction  the  compact. 
Appreciating  the  great  services  of  Lyon,  he 
was  commissioned  a  brigadier,  and  at  the 
close  of  May  he  succeeded  Harney  with  the 
title  of  Commander  of  the  Department  of 
Missouri. 


FORT  BEAUREGARD,  NEAR  MANASSAS 


Early  in  June,  General  Lyon,  Colonel  Blair  and  others,  held  a  conference  with  Governor  Jackson  and 
General  Price,  on  the  subject  of  pacification.  Jackson  demanded  the  disbanding  of  the  Home  Guard, 
composed  of  loyal  Missourians,  and  the  withdrawal  of  National  troops  from  the  State.  Lyon  peremptorily 
refused,  when  Jackson  and  Price  returned  to  Jefferson  City,  the  State  capital.  The  Legislature  had  placed 
the  purse  and  sword  of  Missouri  in  the  hands  of  the  governor;  and  on  the  i2th  of  June  (1861)  he  issued 
a  proclamation  calling  into  active  service  fifty  thousand  of  the  militia,  and  raised  the  standard  of  revolt, 
with  General  Sterling  Price  as  military  leader.  At  the  same  time  he  ordered  his  son  to  destroy  two 
important  railway  bridges,  and  cut  the  telegraph  wires  between  St.  Louis  and  the  State  capital.  Then 
began  those  movements  of  troops  within  the  borders  of  Missouri  which  continued  almost  incessantly 
during  the  entire  period  of  the  war,  with  the  most  disastrous  results  to  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the 
State.  At  the  same  time  the  disloyal  governor  of  Tennessee  (Isham  G.  Harris)  had  placed  that  State  in 
military  relations  to  the  Confederacy,  similar  to  that  of  Virginia,  and  was  working  in  concert  with  Jackson. 
General  Gideon  J.  Pillowr,  an  indifferent  leader,  was  placed  in  chief  command  of  the  troops  of  both  States, 
and  with  these  he  made  an  unsuccessful  effort  to  seize  Cairo.  He  was  soon  superseded  by  Leonidas  Polk, 
a  graduate  of  West  Point,  and  then  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana, 
who  had  been  commissioned  a  major-general,  and  became  an  earnest  leader  of  Confederate  armies  in 
the  West. 

Civil  War  had  now  begun  in  earnest;  and  in  all  parts  of  the  Union,  North  and  South,  hosts  of  armed 
men  were  marshaling  for  the  dreadful  struggle  that  ensued.  The  Confederate  government,  in  order  to 
be  nearer  the  National  capital,  their  coveted  object,  had  resolved  to  leave  Montgomery  and  make  their 
headquarters  at  Richmond;  while  their  forces,  designed  for  the  capture  of  Washington,  were  gathering  in 
large  numbers,  under  General  Beauregard,  at  Manassas,  about  thirty  miles  from  that  city.  The  president 
of  the  Confederacy  (Jefferson  Davis)  left  Montgomery  for  Virginia,  on  Sunday  the  26th  of  May,  with  the 
intention,  it  was  said,  of  taking  command  of  the  Confederate  troops  there,  in  person.  He  was  accompanied 
by  his  favorite  aid,  General  Wigfall  of  Fort  Sumter  fame,  and  by  Robert  Toombs,  his  secretary  of  state. 
His  journey  was  a  continual  ovation.  At  every  railway  station,  men,  women,  and  children  greeted  him 
with  enthusiasm.  A  reporter  of  the  Richmond  Enquirer  was  sent  to  chronicle  the  events  of  the  journey, 
whose  admiration  of  the  "presidential  party"  was  very  pronounced.  He  spoke  of  the  "flute-like  voice" 
of  Davis,  and  of  the  excessive  modesty  of  Wigfall  and  Toombs.  ' '  In  vain  he  [Wigfall]  would  seek  some 
remote  part  of  the  cars,"  said  the  chronicler;  "the  crowd  hunted  him  up,  and  the  welkin  rang  with  rejoic 
ings  as  he  addressed  them  in  his  emphatic  and  fervent  style  of  oratory."  Of  Toombs,  he  said:  "He,  too, 
sought  to  avoid  the  call,  but  the  echo  would  ring  with  the  name  of  'Toombs!  Toombs!'  and  the  sturdy 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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H 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


Georgia  statesman  had  to  respond."  On  the  southern  verge  of  Virginia,  some  of  the  State  riflemen, 
designed  as  an  escort  to  the  president,  joined  the  party.  With  every  step  the  popularity  of  their  "chief 
magistrate"  seemed  to  be  more  and  more  manifest,  for  the  people  felt  that  "the  mantle  of  Washington 
had  fallen  gracefully  upon  his  shoulders."  At  Goldsboro',  "the  Hall,"  said  the  reporter,  "was  thronged 
with  beautiful  girls,  and  many  were  decking  him  with  garlands  of  flowers,  while  others  fanned  him.  It 
was  a  most  interesting  occasion.  Never  were  a  people  more  enraptured  with  their  chief  magistrate." 

At  Richmond,  Davis  was  received  with  equal  enthusiasm;  and  at  the  Fair-ground  he  addressed  an 
immense  multitude  of  people.  With  a  consciousness  of  power,  he  spoke  bitter  words  against  the  Govern 
ment  whose  kindness  he  had  ever  experienced.  He  flattered  the  vanity  of  the  Virginians  by  reminding 
them  that  they  had  been  chosen  to  "smite  the  invaders;"  and  he  assured  them  there  was  "not  one  true 


A  BATTERY  ix  ACTION 

son  of  the  South  wno  was  not  ready  to  shoulder  his  musket,  to  bleed,  to  die,  or  to  conquer  in  the  cause  of 
libertyhere.  .  .  .  We  have  now  reached  the  point,"  he  continued,  "where,  arguments  being  exhausted, 
it  only  remains  for  us  to  stand  by  our  weapons.  When  the  time  and  occasion  serve,  we  shall  smite  the 
smiter  with  manly  arms,  as  did  our  fathers  before  us,  and  as  becomes  their  sons.  To  the  enemy  we  leave 
the  base  acts  of  the  assassin  and  incendiary.  To  them  we  leave  it  to  insult  helpless  women ;  to  us  belongs 
vengeance  upon  man."  The  Virginians  were  too  insane  with  passion  to  resent  his  virtual  reiteration  of 
the  selfish  words  of  Pickens:  "You  may  plant  your  seed  in  peace,  for  Old  Virginia  will  have  to  bear  the 
brunt  of  the  battle;"  and  they  actually  rejoiced  with  pride  in  the  fact  that,  as  he  said,  upon  every  hill 
around  their  State  Capitol  were  ' '  camps  of  soldiers  from  every  State  in  the  Confederacy. ' '  They  purchased 
an  elegant  residence  for  the  use  of  their  president,  and  furnished  it  sumptuously.  There  he  lived,  and 
exercised  the  powers  of  his  office  for  almost  four  years. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

Beauregard's  Proclamation — Insurgents  at  Harper's  Ferry — Exploits  of  an  Indiana  Regiment — Events  on  the  Virginia  Peninsula — Battle 
at  Big  Bethel — National  Troops  on  the  Upper  Potomac — The  Capital  in  Danger — A  Gunpowder  Plot — Action  of  England  and  France 
"Punch's"  Epigram — Conduct  of  Great  Britain  and  the  Western  European  Powers — Russia — Meeting  of  Congress — Department 
Reports — Appropriations — Increase  of  the  Navy — Enthusiasm  of  the  People — Women's  Work — Miss  Dix — Benevolent  Work  in 
Philadelphia. 

THE  fulfillment  of  the  prediction  that  "Poor  Old  Virginia  will  have  to  bear  the  brunt  of  battle,"  had 
now  begun.     Beauregard  was  in  command  of  a  constantly  increasing  force  at  Manassas,  at  the 
beginning  of  June,  and  there  was  a  general  belief  that  under  the  instruction  of  President  Davis,  he 
would  attempt  the  seizure  of  the  capital.     In  characteristic  words,  he  sent  forth  a  proclamation  calculated 
to  "fire  the  Southern  heart."     "A  reckless  and  unprincipled  tyrant,"  he  said,  "has  invaded  your  soil." 
He  assured  them  that  Lincoln  had  thrown  "Abolition  hosts"  among  them,  and  were  murdering  and 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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4;>w§a 


- 


176 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


imprisoning  their  citizens,  confiscating  and  destroying  property,  and  "committing  other  acts  of  violence 
and  outrage  too  revolting  to  humanity  to  be  enumerated.  All  rules  of  civilized  warfare  are  abandoned, 
and  they  proclaim  by  these  acts,  if  not  on  their  banners,  that  their  war-cry  is  'Beauty  and  Booty.'  All 
that  is  dear  to  men — your  honor  and  that  of  your  wives  and  daughters,  your  fortune  and  your  lives — are 

involved  in  the  momentous  contest."  No 
man  knew  better  than  Beaurcgard  that,  at 
that  moment,  the  only  National  troops  in 
Virginia,  excepting  those  in  the  loyal  west 
ern  portion,  were  the  handful  of  men  hold 
ing  Arlington  Heights,  the  Long  Bridge, 
Alexandria  and  the  village  of  Hampton 
near  Fortress  Monroe,  in  a  merely  defen 
sive  attitude,  against  thousands  of  insur 
gents  who  were  marshaling  under  that 
leader  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  seizing 
the  National  capital.  He  knew  that  the 
only  "murder"  and  "outrage"  yet  com 
mitted  by  National  troops  was  the  single 
act  of  killing  the  assassin  of  Colonel  Ells 
worth.  The  author  of  the  proclamation 
was  noted  throughout  the  war  for  ridicu 
lous  boastings,  official  mendacity,  and  con 
spicuous  military  failures. 

Late  in  May,  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  a 
captain  of  Topographical  Engineers  and  a 
meritorious  officer  who  had  deserted  his 
flag  and  accepted  the  commission  of  brig 
adier-general  from  its  enemies,  took  com- 


OLD  CAPITAL  PRISON,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


mand  of  the  insurgent  troops  at  Harper's  Ferry  and  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  At  the  same  time  General 
Robert  Patterson,  a  veteran  of  two  wars,  was  gathering  troops  at  Chambersburg,  in  Pennsylvania,  to 
attack  Johnston.  He  moved  forward  with  fifteen  thousand  men  early  in  June,  under  instructions  from 
General  Scott  to  "attempt  nothing  without  a  clear  prospect  of  success,"  as  the  enemy  were  "strongly 
posted  and  equal  in  numbers."  Already,  as  we  have  observed,  the  insurgents  had  been  smitten  at  Philippi, 
in  Western  Virginia;  and  just  as  Patterson  began  his  march,  an  Indiana  Zouave  Regiment,  led  by  Colonel 
Lewis  Wallace,  struck  the  Confederates  a  blow  at  Romney,  in  that  mountain  region,  which  gave  them 
great  alarm.  That  regiment,  one  of  the  best  disciplined  in  the  field,  had  been  chafing  under  forced  inaction 
in  Southern  Indiana,  and  Wallace  urged  their  employment  in  active  service.  He  was  gratified  by  being 
ordered  to  Cumberland,  to  report  to  General  Patterson.  In  less  than  three  days  after  the  receipt  of  the 
order,  they  had  traversed  Indiana  and  Ohio;  received  their  ammunition  at  Grafton,  in  Western  Virginia, 
and  were  at  Cumberland.  Resting  a  single  day,  Wallace  proceeded  to  strike  a  band  of  insurgents  at 
Romney;  and  on  the  night  of  the  loth  of  June,  1861,  led  by  a  competent  guide,  the  regiment  made  a 
silent  march  along  a  rough  and  perilous  mountain-path,  but  did  not  reach  the  vicinity  of  the  insurgents 
until  late  in  the  evening  of  the  i2th.  They  at  once  attacked  the  Confederates  with  such  skill  and  bravery, 
that  they  fled  to  the  shelter  of  the  forests,  followed  by  all  the  villagers,  excepting  the  few  negroes.  In  the 
space  of  twenty-four  hours,  Wallace  and  his  men  had  traveled  eighty-four  miles  (forty-six  of  them  on  foot), 
engaged  in  a  brisk  skirmish,  and  returned;  "and  what  is  more,"  wrote.  Colonel  Wallace  in  his  report,  "my 
men  are  ready  to  repeat  it  to-morrow."  This  dash  caused  Johnston  to  evacuate  Harper's  Ferry,  for  he 
believed  the  assailants  to  be  the  advance  of  a  much  larger  force.  He  moved  up  the  Valley,  and  took 
post  near  Winchester. 

While  the  campaign  was  thus  opening  in  Western  Virginia,  stirring  events  were  occurring  near  Fortress 
Monroe.  The  possession  of  that  post  was  of  the  first  importance  to  both  parties;  and  Colonel  J.  B. 
Magruder,  who  had  deserted  his  flag,  was  sent  down  the  Virginia  Peninsula,  with  a  considerable  force,  to 
attempt  its  seizure.  General  B.  F.  Butler,  who  was  then  in  command  of  the  Department  of  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina,  with  his  headquarters  at  Fortress  Monroe,  took  measures  to  oppose  him.  General  E.  W. 
Pearce  was  placed  in  command  of  an  expedition  that  was  to  march  in  two  columns  against  the  insurgents. 
He  was  to  lead,  from  near  Hampton,  Duryea's  Fifth  (Zouave)  New  York  Regiment,  and  Townsend's 
Third,  to  Little  Bethel,  where  he  was  to  be  joined  by  detachments  from  Colonel  Phelps's  command  at 


A    IIISTOR  Y    OF    THE     CIVIL    WAR 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


Newport  News.     The  latter  were  composed  of  battalions  of  Massachusetts  and  Vermont  troops,  Bendix's 

Germans  of  New  York,  known  as  the  Steuben  Rifle  Regiment,  and  a  battery  of  two  light  field-pieces  in 

charge  of  Lieutenant  John  T.  Greble  of  the  regular  army,  with 

eleven  artillery  men. 

Both  columns  marched  at  about  midnight.     An  order   to 

secure  mutual  recognition  was  neglected,   and  as  the  columns 

approached  in  the  gloom,  they  mistook  each  other  for  enemies, 

and  fired,  killing  and  maiming  some  of  the  men.     The  mistake 

was  instantly  discovered,  and  the  combined  columns  pressed  on 

toward  Magruder's  fortifications  at  Big  Bethel.     The  noise  of  the 

firing  had  been  heard  there,  which  caused  the  scattered  Confed 
erates  to  concentrate  their  forces  in  time  to  meet  the  Nationals. 

A  sharp  engagement  ensued.     The  Nationals  were  repulsed ;  and 

just  as  Lieutenant  Greble  ordered  his  field-pieces  to  be  made  ready 

for  the  retreat,  a  cannon-ball  struck  his  temple  a  glancing  blow, 

and  he  fell  dead.     So  perished,  at  the  very  opening  of  the  great 

Civil  War,  the  first  of  the  officers  of  the  regular  army  who  fell  in 

that  conflict.     Generous,  brave  and  good,  Lieutenant  Greble  was 

beloved  by  all  who  knew  him.  His  body  was  carried  to  Phila 
delphia,  his  native  city,  where  it  lay  in  state  one  day,  in  Inde 
pendence  Hall,  and  was  buried  with  military  honors  in  Woodland 

Cemetery.     Major  Theodore  Winthrop,  an  accomplished  young 

officer,  was  also  killed  at  Bethel,  while  bravely  contending  with  the 

insurgents.     He  was  a  member  of  General  Butler's  staff,  and  his 

military  secretary.     When  Butler  was  informed  of  the  action,  he 

proceeded  to  join  the  expedition  in  person,  but  at  Hampton  he 

received  tidings  of  the  disaster.     It  was  a  result  which  alarmed 

and  mortified  the  nation ;  but  the  public  mind  was  soon  absorbed 

in  the  contemplation  of  far  greater  and  more  momentous  move 
ments.  The  failure  at  Bethel  was  undoubtedly  chargeable 

more  to  a  general  eagerness  to  do,  without  experience  in  doing,  than  to  any  special  shortcomings  of 

individuals. 

For  a  month  after  the  dash  on  Romney,  Wallace  and  his  men  were  in  a  perilous  situation;   but  by 

boldness  and  audacity  of  action,  a  wholesome  fear  of  the  Zouaves  was  created  among  the  Confederates. 

By  ceaseless  activity  they  guarded  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Rail 
way  for  more  than  a  hundred  miles;  and  so  distinguished  were 
their  services,  unaided,  that  General  Patterson  wrote  to  Wallace: 
"I  begin  to  doubt  whether  the  Eleventh  Indiana  needs  reinforce 
ments."  Wallace  was  soon  afterward  commissioned  a  brigadier- 
general  of  volunteers. 

When  Johnston  abandoned  Harper's  Ferry,  General  Patter 
son,  who  had  received  intimations  that  he  was  expected  to  cross 
the  Potomac,  pushed  his  columns  forward  from  Hagerstown  and 
threw  about  nine  thousand  troops  across  the  river  at  Williamsport, 
where  it  was  fordable.  These  were  led  by  General  George  Cad- 
wallader,  who  commanded  five  companies  of  cavalry.  At  that 
moment  Scott  telegraphed  to  Patterson  to  send  him  all  his  regular 
troops  and  a  few  others  under  his  command.  This  order  was 
repeated;  and  again  it  was  repeated  early  in  the  morning  of  the 
1 7th,  when  the  General-in-Chief  said :  ' '  We  are  pressed  here ;  send 
the  troops  I  have  twice  called  for,  without  delay."  Patterson 
obeyed,  but  was  compelled  to  call  back  the  remainder  of  his  force 
into  Maryland. 

The  danger  hinted  at  by  the  General-in-Chief  was  great  in 
deed.  Beauregard  was  preparing  to  move  on  the  capital  before 
the  assembling  of  Congress  on  the  4th  of  July.  The  Confederate 
government,  aided  by  the  Secessionists  of  Virginia  and  Maryland, 


GENERAL  W.  S.  ROSECRANS 


GENERAL  J.  D.  Cox 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


were  employing  every  means  in  their  power  to  accomplish  that  end.  Washington  was  swarming  with 
enemies,  open  and  secret.  Plotters  were  at  work.  The  Confederate  archives  at  the  capital  reveal  some 
ugly  facts;  among  others,  that  the  Confederate  secretary  of  war  received  a  proposition  to  blow  up  the 
Capitol  with  gunpowder  that  should  be  conveyed  secretly  to  its  crypts,  some  time  between  the  4th  and 
5th  of  July,  when  Congress  would  be  in  session  and  possibly  the  President  might  be  present.  The  propo 
sition  was  entertained,  and  directions  were  given  for  a  conference  between  the  conspirators  and  Judah 
P.  Benjamin,  the  Confederate  attorney-general.  This  scheme  for  wholesale  murder  was  abandoned  then, 
and  Congress  assembled  quietly  at  the  appointed  time. 

When  Congress  met  (July  4,  1861)  the  public  welfare  demanded  immediate  and  energetic  action,  and 
that  legislation  should  be  confined  to  providing  means  for  the  salvation  of  the  Republic.  Our  foreign 
relations  were  in  a  critical  state.  Confederate  emissaries  at  European  courts  had  created  a  general 
impression  among  statesmen  and  publicists,  that  our  nation  was  only  a  league  of  States  that  might  be 
dissolved  when  a  member  became  dissatisfied.  They  had  magnified  the  power  and  unity  of  the  Confed 


eracy,  and  had  made  the 
free-trade  in  cotton  to 
France.  The  belief  soon 
Republic  was  hopelessly 
resentatives  at  Wash- 
respective  governments 
were  hopelessly  dismem- 
public  sentiment  in 
amazed  at  the  seeming 
islating  as.  if  the  Union, 
had  a  future.  Some  of 
wriden  the  breach,  and 
the  United  States  by 
jealous  of  our  expanding 
and  regarded  our  repub- 
ment  as  a  standing  men- 
monarchies  of  the  old 
Great  Britain  and 
equally  anxious  for  the 
and  they  entered  into  a 
in  concert.  They  even 
other  European  govern- 
standing,  with  the  ex- 
would  concurwiththem. 
ning  of  our  difficulties, 
friendly  powers  had 


GENERAL  R.  S.  GARXETT,  C.  S.  A. 


GENERAL  W.  H.  MORRIS 


most  tempting  offer  of 
Great  Britain  and 
became  general  that  the 
shattered.  Foreign  rep- 
ington  wrote  to  their 
that  the  United  States 
bcred;  and  leaders  of 
Europe  affected  to  be 
folly  of  Congress  in  leg- 
"one  and  inseparable," 
them  were  anxious  to 
so  diminish  the  power  of 
disunity;  for  they  were 
greatness  as  a  nation, 
lican  form  of  govern- 
ace  of  the  unstable 
world. 

France  seemed  to  be 
overthrow  of  the  Union, 
secret  agreement  to  act 
wTent  so  far  as  to  apprise 
ments  of  this  under- 
pectation  that  the  latter 
So,  at  the  very  begin- 
these  two  professedly 
clandestinelv  entered 


into  a  combination  for  arraying  all  Europe  on  the  side  of  the  insurgents,  and  giving  them  moral  and 
material  aid.  Our  loyal  people  could  not,  at  first,  comprehend  the  unfriendly  acts  and  tone  of  the  British 
government  and  the  chief  representatives  of  the  British  people,  until  the  touchstone  of  Montesquieu's 
assertion  was  applied:  "Other  nations  have  made  the  interests  of  commerce  yield  to  those  of  politics;  the 
English,  on  the  contrary,  have  ever  made  political  interests  give  way  to  those  of  commerce."  And  the 
traditional  philanthropy  of  the  English  in  behalf  of  the  slave  made  the  following  notable  epigram  of  the 
London  Punch' appear  to  us,  at  first,  like  a  good-natured  slander: 

"Though  with  the  North  we  sympathize, 

It  must  not  be  forgotten, 
That  with  the  South  we've  stronger  ties 

Which  are  composed  of  cotton, 
Whereof  our  imports  'mount  unto 

A  sum  of  many  figures; 
And  where  would  be  our  calico 

Without  the  toil  of  niggers? 

The  South  enslaves  their  fellow-men, 

Whom  we  love  all  so  dearly, 
The  North  keeps  commerce  bound  again, 

Which  touches  us  more  nearly. 
Thus  a  divided  duty  we 

Perceive  in  this  hard  matter — 
Free-trade  or  sable  brothers  free? 

O,  will  we  choose  the  latter?" 


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182 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  X.  P.  BANKS 


This  epigram  gave  the  key  to  the  secret  motives  of  the  English  government.  The  astute  Frenchman, 
Count  Gasparin,  clearly  perceived  them.  He  knew  the  seductive  influence  of  the  bribe  of  free  cotton  on 
a  manufacturing  people  like  those  of  Great  Britain ;  and  nearly  two  months  before  her  public  acts  in  favor 

of  the  insurgents  were  manifested,  he  gave  this  warning:  "Let 
England  beware !  It  were  better  for  her  to  lose  Malta,  Corfu  and 
Gibraltar,  than  the  glorious  position  which  her  struggle  against 
Slavery  and  the  Slave-trade  has  secured  her  in  the  esteem  of  the 
nations.  Even  in  an  age  of  armored  frigates  and  rifled  cannon, 
the  chief  of  all  powers,  thank  God !  is  moral  power.  Woe  to  the 
nation  that  disregards  it,  and  consents  to  immolate  its  principles 
to  its  interests !  From  the  beginning  of  the  present  conflict  the 
enemies  of  England,  and  they  are  numerous,  have  predicted  that 
the  cause  of  cotton  will  weigh  heavier  in  her  scales  than  the  cause 
of  justice  and  liberty.  They  are  preparing  to  judge  her  by  her 
conduct  in  the  American  crisis.  Once  more,  let  her  beware ! ' ' 

The  British  ministry  did  not  heed  the  warning.  So  early  as 
the  gth  of  May  (1861),  Lord  John  Russell,  the  Minister  for  For 
eign  Affairs,  said  in  Parliament,  in  reply  to  the  question,  What 
position  has  the  government  intended  to  take?  "The  Attorney 
and  Solicitor-General  and  the  Queen's  Advocate  and  the  Govern 
ment  have  come  to  the  opinion  that  the  Southern  Confederacy  of 
America,  according  to  those  principles  which  seem  to  them  to  be 
just  principles,  must  be  treated  as  a  belligerent."  This  was  pre 
paratory  to  an  open  recognition  of  the  independence  of  the  Con 
federacy,  a  motion  for  which  was  then  pending  in  Parliament. 
The  Queen  and  her  beloved  husband,  the  Prince  Consort,  felt  a 
real  friendship  for  the  Americans,  who  had  treated  their  son,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  so  kindly  only  a  few 
months  before,  but  she  yielded  to  ministerial  pressure,  and  on  the  i3th  of  May  issued  a  proclamation  of 
neutrality,  in  which  belligerent  rights  were  accorded  to  the  insurgents,  and  a  virtual  acknowledgment  of 
the  Confederation  as  a  national  power.  It  was  followed  in  the  British  Parliament,  and  among  the  Tory 
classes  and  in  the  Tory  newspapers  of  the  realm,  by  the  most  dogmatic  assertions  that  the  Republic  of  the 
West  was  hopelessly  crumbling  into  ruins,  and  was  unworthy  of  respectful  consideration. 

All  this  was  done  with  unseemly  haste,  before  Mr.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  chosen  by  the  new  Admin 
istration  to  represent  the  United  States  at  the  Court  of  St.  James,  had  presented  his  credentials.  When 
that  event  occurred,  and  the  tone  of  Mr.  Adams's  instructions  was  known,  the  British  ministry  paused, 
and  took  counsel  of  prudence  and  expediency.  Mr.  Adams  had 
been  instructed  by  the  American  Secretary  of  State  (Mr.  Seward) 
especially  to  counteract  the  influence  of  Confederate  agents  at 
court.  "You  will  in  no  case,"  said  the  instructions,  "listen  to  any 
suggestions  of  compromise  by  this  Government,  under  foreign 
auspices,  with  its  discontented  citizens.  If,  as  the  President  does 
not  at  all  apprehend,  you  shall  unhappily  find  her  Majesty's  gov 
ernment  tolerating  the  applications  of  the  so-called  Confederate 
States,  or  wavering  about  it,  you  will  not  leave  them  to  suppose, 
for  a  moment,  that  they  can  grant  that  application  and  remain  the 
friends  of  the  United  States.  You  may  even  assure  them 
promptly,  in  that  case,  that  if  they  determine  to  recognize,  they 
may  at  the  same  time  prepare  to  enter  into  an  alliance  with  the 
enemies  of  this  Republic.  You,  alone,  will  represent  your  coun 
try  at  London,  and  you  will  represent  the  whole  of  it  there. 
When  you  are  asked  to  divide  that  duty  with  others,  diplomatic 
relations  between  the  government  of  Great  Britain  and  this  Gov 
ernment  will  be  suspended,  and  will  remain  so  until  it  shall  be 
seen  which  of  the  two  is  most  strongly  intrenched  in  the  confi 
dence  of  their  respective  nations  and  of  mankind." 

The  high  position  taken  by  Mr.  Seward,  in  the  name  of  his 
Government,  in  that  able  letter  of  instructions,  was  doubtless  one 


GENKKAL  IKVVIN  Me  Do  WELL 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


183 


MAJ  GEN.  G.5.HAMILTON. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  A.  J.  SMITH 


HORRORS  OF  WAR 


184 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


of  the  chief  causes  for  the  fortunate  delay  of  the  British  government  in  the  matter  of  recognizing  the 
independence  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.  Its  puissance  was  increased  by  the  manifest  opposition  of 
the  great  mass  of  the  ' '  common  people ' '  of  Great  Britain,  to  the  unfriendly  conduct  of  their  government  and 
the  ruling  classes  toward  the  real  Government  of  the  United  States.  The  friendly  attitude  of  Russia  toward 
the  United  States  was  another  cause  for  delay.  The  cautious  Emperor  of  the  French  followed  Great 
Britain,  and  on  the  zyth  of  June  issued  a  decree  according  belligerent  rights  to  the  Confederates;  so  also 
did  the  Queen  of  Spain  proclaim  i  the  neutrality  of  her  government, 


and  entered  upon  a  scheme  with 
seeds  of  monarchical  institutions 
Republic  was  about  to  expire, 
nized  the  insurgents  as  belliger- 
enlightened  Emperor  of  Russia 
strike  the  shackles  from  almost 
dominions,  instructed  (July  10) 
to  say:  "In  every  event,  the 
the  most  cordial  sympathy  on  the 
during  the  important  crisis  which 
The  powers  of  Western  Europe, 
a  promised  ally  of  the  Republic  of 
It  was  on  Thursday,  the  4th 
fourth  anniversary  of  the  Declara- 
Thirty-seventh  Congress  assem- 
extraordinary  session.  It  was  a 
country.  Civil  War  was  kindling 
miles  of  the  Republic,  and  ene- 
acing  its  Capitol  and  its  archives 
the  sound  of  great  guns,  armies 
pose ;  and  secret  emissaries  of  the 


BVT.  MAJOR-GENERAL  E.  B.  TYLER 


Napoleon  III.  for  replanting  the 
in  America  now  that  the  great 
The  King  of  Portugal  also  recog- 
ents,  on  the  2gth  of  July;  but  the 
(Alexander  II.),  who  was  about  to 
forty  million  slaves  in  his  own 
his  representative  at  Washington 
American  nation  may  count  upon' 
part  of  our  most  august  master 
it  is  passing  through  at  present." 
regarding  the  Russian  Emperor  as 
the  West,  behaved  prudently, 
of  July,  1 86 1,  and  the  eighty- 
tion  of  Independence,  w-hen  the 
bled  at  the  National  capital,  in 
critical  time  in  the  history  of  our 
over  a  quarter  of  a  million  square 
mies  of  the  nation's  life  were  men- 
with  utter  destruction.  Within 
were  then  gathering  for  that  pur- 
Confederacy,  it  was  believed,  in- 
mischief ,  were  prowling  about  the 


trusted  with  errands  of  deadliest 
halls  of  Congress  and  the  President's  house.  As  promptly  as  the  militia  of  the  country,  the  members  of 
the  National  Legislature  had  responded  to  the  President's  call.  Twenty-three  States  were  represented  in 
the  Senate,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  members  of  the  Lower  House  were  present  on  the  first  day 
of  the  session,  while  ten  slave-labor  States  were  not  represented.  In  both  Houses  there  was  a  large 
working  majority  of  Unionists;  yet  there  was  a  considerable  faction  who  sympathized  with  the  Confed 
erates  in  their  application  of  the  doctrine  of  State-supremacy  and  in  opposition  to  coercive  measures. 

The  President,  in  his  message,  after  setting  forth  the  causes  of  trouble,  the  acts  of  the  insurgents, 
and  the  necessity  for  giving  strength  to  the  Executive  arm,  said:  "It  is  now  recommended,  that  you  give 
the  legal  means  for  making  this  contest  a  short  and  decisive  one;  that  you  place  at  the  control  of  the 
Government,  for  the  work,  at  least  four  hundred  thousand  men  and  four  hundred  millions  of  dollars." 
That  number  of  men  constituted  only  one-tenth  of  those  of  proper  age  for  military  service  in  the  regions 
where,  apparently,  all  were  willing  to  engage;  and  the  sum  of  money  asked  for  was  less  than  a  twenty- 
third  part  of  the  money  value  owned  by  the  men  who  seemed  willing  to  devote  the  whole. 

The  President's  message  wras  accompanied  by  important  reports  from  three  heads  of  departments. 
The  Secretary  of  War  (Simon  Cameron)  recommended  the  enlistment  of  men  for  three  years;  appropria 
tions  for  extraordinary  expenses;  the  appointment  of  an  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  and  an  increase  of 
the  clerical  force  in  his  department.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  (Salmon  P.  Chase)  asked  for  $240,- 
000,000  for  war  purposes,  and  $80,000,000  for  the  current  expenses  of  the  Government.  He  proposed 
to  raise  these  amounts  by  three  different  methods.  For  the  civil  service,  he  proposed  to  procure  a 
revenue  by  increased  duties  on  specified  articles  and  a  system  of  internal  taxation;  for  war  purposes, 
by  a  National  loan  in  the  form  of  Treasury  notes,  bearing  an  interest  of  one  cent  a  day  on  fifty  dollars,  or 
in  bonds,  made  redeemable  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Government  after  a  period  not  exceeding  thirty  years, 
and  bearing  an  interest  not  exceeding  six  per  centum  a  year.  He  further  recommended  the  issue  of 
Treasury  notes  for  a  smaller  amount. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  (Gideon  Wells),  who  had  been  compelled  to  resort  to  extraordinary 
measures  to  save  the  Republic,  asked  Congress  to  sanction  his  acts;  to  authorize  the  appointment  of  an 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  to  appoint  commissioners  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  using 
iron-clad  steamers  or  floating  batteries. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


185 


_M 

a 


H 

a 


*i 

H 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


The  suggestions  of  the  President  and  the  heads  of  departments  were  followed  by  prompt  action  on  the 
part  of  Congress.  They  at  once  made  provisions  for  the  sinews  of  war  and  to  strengthen  the  arm  of  the 
Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Republic.  They  approved  of  the  President's  call  for  militia  and  volunteers.  They 
authorized  the  raising  of  five  hundred  thousand  troops;  and  they  made  an  appropriation  of  $500,000,000 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  kindling  Civil  War.  They  carried  out  the  suggestions  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  concerning  methods  for  procuring  the  money,  by  increased  taxes  and  the  issue  of  interest- 
bearing  Treasury  notes  or  bonds.  Each  House  was  purged  of  disloyal  members  by  the  expulsion  of  ten 
Senators  and  one  Representative.  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  was  upheld  by  Congress;  and,  putting 
forth  extraordinary  exertions  to  increase  the  naval  force  of  the  country,  he  purchased,  before  the  close  of 


A  BATTERY  ox  DRILL 

the  year,  and  put  into  commission,  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  vessels,  and  contracted  for 
the  building  of  a  large  number  of  substantial  steamships  for  sea  service.  He  called  attention  to  the 
importance  of  iron-clad  vessels;  and  so  promptly  were  his  requisitions  for  recruits  complied  with,  that  no 
vessel  was  ever  detained  for  more  than  two  or  three  days  by  want  of  men.  Two  hundred  and  fifty-nine 
officers  had  resigned  or  been  dismissed  from  the  service  for  disloyalty  since  the  4th  of  March,  and  several 
vessels  were  sent  to  sea  without  a  full  complement  of  officers;  but  the  want  was  soon  supplied,  for  many 
retired  officers,  who  had  engaged  in  civil  pursuits,  now  came  to  the  aid  of  their  country  in  its  hour  of  need, 
and  were  re-commissioned.  Many  masters  and  mates  were  appointed  from  the  commercial  marine.  The 
Naval  School  and  public  property  at  Annapolis  had  been  removed  to  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  for  safety, 
and  the  seminary  found  temporary  accommodations  in  Fort  Adams  there. 

When  Congress  met,  there  were  about  three  hundred  thousand  Union  troops  in  the  field,  and  the  enthus 
iasm  of  the  people  in  the  free-labor  States  was  at  fever  heat.  They  contributed  men,  money  and  soldiers, 
with  lavish  generosity.  Women,  animated  by  their  natural  zeal  in  labors  of  mercy,  went  to  work  with  busy 
fingers  preparing  lint  and  bandages  for  the  wounded,  and  hospital  garments  for  the  sick  and  maimed.  In 
tens  of  thousands  of  households  in  the  land,  women  and  children  might  be  seen  engaged  in  the  holy  toil; 
while  hundreds  of  the  gentler  sex,  many  of  whom  had  been  tenderly  nurtured  in  the  lap  of  ease  and  luxury, 
hastened  to  hospitals  in  camps  and  towns,  and  there,  with  saintly  self-sacrifice,  they  performed  the  duties 
of  nurse,  night  and  day,  and  administered,  in  every  way,  with  all  the  tenderness  of  affectionate  mothers 
and  sisters,  to  the  wants  of  the  sick,  the  wounded,  and  the  dying. 

Associated  efforts  in  this  benevolent  work  were  first  organized  by  Miss  Dorothea  L.  Dix,  a  woman 
extensively  known  in  our  country  for  her  labors  of  love  in  behalf  of  the  poor,  the  unfortunate,  and  the 
afflicted.  Perceiving  war  to  be  inevitable,  she  offered  her  services  to  the  Government  gratuitously,  in 
organizing  a  system  for  providing  comfort  for  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers.  They  were  accepted.  Only 
eight  days  after  the  President's  call  for  troops,  the  Secretary  of  War  proclaimed:  "Be  it  known  to  all 
whom  it  may  concern,  that  the  free  services  of  Miss  D.  L.  Dix  are  accepted  by  the  War  Department,  and 
that  she  will  give,  at  all  times,  all  necessary  aid  in  organizing  military  hospitals  for  the  care  of  all  the  sick 
or  wounded  soldiers,  aiding  the  chief  surgeons  by  supplying  nurses  and  substantial  means  for  the  comfort 
and  relief  of  the  suffering;  also,  that  she  is  fully  authorized  to  receive,  control,  and  disburse  special  supplies 
bestowed  by  individuals  or  associations  for  the  comfort  of  their  friends  or  the  citizen  soldiers  from  all 

s  of  the  United  States."     Surgeon-General  R.  C.  Wood,  recognizing  the  ability  of  Miss  Dix  for  the 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


187 


M 

2 
3 
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188 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


task  she  had  volunteered  to  perform,  publicly 
requested  all  women  who  offered  their  services 
as  nurses  to  report  to  her. 

"Like  an  angel  of  mercy,"  says  an  his 
torian  of  the  war,  ' '  this  self-sacrificing  woman 
labored  day  and  night  throughout  the  entire 
war  for  the  relief  of  the  suffering  soldiers, 
without  expecting  or  receiving  any  pecuniary 
reward.  She  went  from  battle-field  to  battle 
field  when  the  carnage  was  over;  from  camp 
to  camp,  and  from  hospital  to  hospital,  super 
intending  the  operations  of  the  nurses,  and 
administering  with  her  own  hands  physical 
comforts  to  the  suffering,  and  soothing  the 
troubled  spirits  of  the  invalid  or  dying  soldier 
with  a  voice  low,  musical  and  attractive,  and 
always  burdened  with  words  of  heartfelt  sym 
pathy  and  religious  consolation.  .  .  .  Yet 
she  was  not  the  only  Sister  of  Mercy  engaged 
in  this  holy  work.  She  had  hundreds  of  de 
voted,  earnest,  self-sacrificing  co-workers  of 
the  gentler  sex  all  over  the  land,  serving  with 
equal  zeal  in  the  camp  and  hospitals  of  Na 
tional  and  Confederate  armies ;  and  no  greater 
heroism  was  displayed  by  soldiers  in  the  field 
than  was  exhibited  by  these  American  women 
everywhere." 

The  firemen  of  Philadelphia  also  did 
noble  work.  When  sick  and  wounded  sol 
diers  began  to  be  brought  to  the  Government 
hospitals  in  Philadelphia,  the  Medical  De 
partment  often  found  it  difficult  to  provide 
vehicles  to  take  them  from  the  vessels  to  their 
destination,  and  there  was  much  suffering  on  account  of  delays.  The  sympathetic  firemen  of  the  city 
made  arrangements  to  give  a  signal  when  invalid  soldiers  arrived,  when  they  would  turn  out  with  wagons 
to  convey  them  to  the  hospitals.  Finally,  the  Northern  Liberties  Engine  Company  had  a  fine  ambulance 
constructed  for  the  purpose.  Other  fire  companies  of  the  city  followed  the  example;  and  in  these  ambu 
lances,  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  soldiers  were  conveyed  tenderly  from  vessels  to  the  hospitals, 
during  the  war. 

CHAPTER   XII. 

Confederates  in  Virginia — National  Troops  in  Western  Virginia — McClellan's  Campaign — Secessionists  Repressed  in  Baltimore — Con 
federate  Privateers — Troops  near  Washington — Manassas  Junction — Patterson  Crosses  the  Potomac — Movements  of  National 
Troops — Battle  at  Blackburn's  Ford — Battle  of  Bull  Run  and  Its  Effects — War  in  the  West — General  Lyon's  Campaign — Military 
Operations  in  Missouri — Death  of  Lyon — Union  Movement — Movements  of  a  Disloyal  Governor. 

THE  gathering  of  Confederate  troops  at  Manassas,  under  Beauregard,  required  prompt  and  vigorous 
action  on  the  part  of  the  Government.  The  main  Confederate  army  was  there.  Johnston  was  at 
Winchester,  with  a  large  body,  ready  to  reinforce  Beauregard  at  any  moment,  unless  prevented  by 
General  Patterson,  who  was  at  Martinsburg  early  in  July,  with  eighteen  thousand  Nationals,  keenly 
watching  the  movements  of  the  Confederates.  From  their  grand  encampment  at  Manassas,  the  latter 
had  sent  out  detachments  along  the  line  of  the  Upper  Potomac  from  Georgetown  to  Leesburg,  menacing 
various  points,  and  foraging.  At  Vienna  they  had  a  severe  skirmish  (June  17)  with  an  Ohio  regiment,  and 
were  repulsed;  and  there  the  flag  of  the  "Sovereign  State  of  South  Carolina"  was  first  seen  on  a  battle-field. 
The  Confederates  soon  returned  and  took  possession  of  Vienna  and  Falls  Church  Village,  and  the  latter 
became  famous  for  stirring  scenes  afterward.  It  was  ten  days  after  this  event  that  Captain  Ward,  of  the 
Freeborn,  was  killed  at  Matthias  Point. 


MAP  OF  BELMONT  AND  VICINITY 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


189 


190 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


The  Confederates  now  put  forth  all  their  available  strength  to  hold  the  mountain  regions  of  Virginia. 
The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railway  was  guarded  by  National  troops;  and  about  twenty  thousand  of  these 
from  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Virginia,  were  at  Grafton,  under  the  command  of  General  George  B.  McClellan, 
at  the  beginning  of  July.  Porterfield  had  been  superseded  by  General  R.  S.  Garnett,  in  command  of  the 

Confederate  forces  in  Western  Virginia, 
with  his  headquarters  at  Beverly  and  out 
lying  posts  at  Bealington,  Philippi,  Buck- 
hannon    and    Romney.      In    the    Great 
Kanawha  region,  a  considerable  body  of 
Confederates  were  led  by  Ex-Governor  H. 
A.  Wise,  where  he  was  confronted  by  Ohio 
troops  under  General  J.  D.  Cox.     At  the 
same  time  McClellan  began  offensive  op 
erations.     He  led  ten  thousand  men  to 
attack  Garnett  at  Laurel  Hill,  near  Bev 
erly;    and  sent  four  thousand  men  under 
General  T.  A.   Morris  toward  the  same 
point,  by  way  of  Philippi.    Another  body 
under  General  Hill 
was  sent  to  a  point 
eastward  of  Philip- 
pi ,  to  prevent  the  es- 
over  the  Alleghany 
Johnston    at    Win- 
andoah  Valley. 
tionals  approached 


w  a  s  ascertained 
Pegram,  with  a  con- 
Confederates,  was 
in  Rich  Mountain 
chief.  McClellan 
patched  Colonel 


cape  of  the  insurgents 
Mountains  to  join 
Chester  in  the  Shen- 
When  the  Na- 
Garnett's  position,  it 
that  Colonel  John 
siderable  body  of 
strongly  intrenched 
Gap  in  the  rear  of  his 
immediately  dis- 
(afterward  General) 
W.  S.  Rosecrans, 
with  a  body  of  Ohio 
and  Indiana  foot 
soldiers  and  a  troop  of 

cavalry,  in  light  marching  order,  to  dislodge 
Pegram.  By  a  circuitous  and  perilous 
mountain  march  in  the  darkness,  and  under 
a  heavy  rain-storm,  they  made  their  way  to 
the  top  of  a  ridge  of  Rich  Mountain,  above 
Pegram's  camp  and  only  a  mile  from  it  (July 
ii,  1861);  but  they  were  not  unobserved. 
Pegram  had  discovered  their  approach,  and 
now  attacked  them  furiously  with  nine  hun 
dred  men  armed  with  muskets  and  cannon. 
A  severe  engagement  ensued.  The  Confed 
erates  were  repulsed;  and  for  his  gallantry 
on  that  occasion  Rosecrans  was  commis 
sioned  a  brigadier-general.  The  National  troops  were  in  a  perilous  situation  on  Rich  Mountain,  for  Pegram 
confronted  them  with  an  overwhelming  force.  McClellan  had  heard  the  sounds  of  battle,  and  pushed 
forward  with  troops  for  their  relief.  Pegram  did  not  wait  to  be  attacked,  but  stole  away  in  the  night, 
and  so  uncovered  Garnett's  rear.  Advised  of  this  fact,  Garnett  also  withdrew  in  the  darkness, 
leaving  most  of  his  cannon,  tents  and  wagons  behind,  and  fled  toward  Huttonsville.  Headed  off  by 
McClellan,  his  forces  were  scattered  in  the  mountains  of  the  Cheat  River  region.  Meanwhile  Pegram 
and  six  hundred  of  his  followers  had  surrendered  (July  14)  to  McClellan. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


191 


192 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHRONOLOGICAL   SUMMARY   AND    RECORD— Continued 


(Continued  from  Section  5j 
SEPTEMBER,  1862. 

1— Britton's  Lane,  Tenn.  20th  and  30th  111.,  4th  111.  Cav.,  Foster's  (Ohio) 
Cav.,  Battery  A  2d  111.  Art.  Union  5  killed,  51  wounded,  52  missing. 
Confed.  179  killed,  100  wounded. 

Chantilly,  Va.  McDowell's  Corps,  Army  of  Virginia.  Hooker's  and 
Kearney's  Divisions  of  Third  Corps,  Army  of  Putomac,  Reno's  Corps. 
Union  1,1300  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.  Confed.  800  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing.  Union  Maj.-Gen.  Kearney  and  Brig. -Gen. 
Stevens  killed. 

2 — Vienna,  Va.      1st  Minn.      Union  1  killed,  0  wounded. 
3— Slaughterville,  Ky.      Foster's  (Ohio)  Cav.      Confed.  3  killed,  2  wounded. 

25  captured. 
6— Washington,  X.  C.     24th  Mass..  1st  X.  C.,  lid  X.  Y.  Cav.      Union  8 

killed,  30  wounded.     Confed.  30  killed,  100  wounded. 
7 — Poolesville,  Md.      3d  Ind.  and  8th  111.  Cav.      Union  2  killed,  0  wounded. 

Confed.  3  killed,  0  wounded. 
Clarksville  or  Rickett's  Hill,   Tenn.      llth  111.,   13th   Wis.,  71st  Ohio, 

5th  Iowa  Cav.,  and  two  batteries.      No  casualties  recorded. 
9— Columbia,  Tenn.      42d  111.      Confed.  18  killed,  45  wounded. 

Des  Allemands,  La.     21st  Ind.,  4th  Wis.     Confed.  12  killed. 
10 — Cold  Water,  Miss.     6th  111.  Cav.     Confed.  4  killed,  80  wounded. 

Fayetteville,  W.  Va.     34th  and  37th  Ohio,  4th  W.  Va.      Union  13|killed, 

80  wounded. 

12  to  15 — Harper's  Ferry,  Va.  39th,  lllth,  115th,  125th  and  120th  X.  Y. 
Militia,  32d,  (iOth,  and  87th  Ohio,  9th  Vt.,  05th  111..  1  ,  h  Ind.,  1st 
and  3d  Md.  Home  Brigade,  8th  X.  Y.  Cav..  12th  111.  Cav..  1st  Md. 
Cav.,  four  Batteries  of  Artil.  Union  SO  killed,  120  wounded,  11,583 
missing  and  captured.  Confed.  500  killed  and  wounded. 

14 — Turner's  and  Crampton's  Gap,  South  Mountain,  Md.  First  Corps, 
Maj.-Gen.  Hooker;  Sixth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Franklin;  Ninth  Corps. 
Maj.-Gen.  Reno.  Union  443  killed,  1,800  wounded.  Confed.  500 
killed,  2,343  wounded,  1,500  captured.  Union  Maj.-Gen.  Reno  killed. 
Confed.  Brig. -Gen.  Garland  killed. 

14  to  16— Mumfordsville.  Ky..  18th  U.  S.  Inft.,  28th  and  33d  Ky.,  17th, 
50th,  00th,  07th,  08th,  74th,  7Sth,  and  89th  Ind.,  Conkle's  Battery, 
13th  Ind.  Artil.  and  Louisville  Provost  Guard.  Union  50  killed. 
3,500  captured  and  missing.  Confed.  714  killed  and  wounded. 

17 — Durhamville,  Tenn.  Detachment  of  52d  Ind.  Union  1  killed,  10 
wounded.  Confed.  8  killed. 

Antietam  or  Sharpsburg,  Md.  First  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Hooker;  Second 
Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Sumner;  Fifth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Fitz-John  Porter; 
Sixth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Franklin;  Ninth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Burnside; 
Twelfth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Williams;  Couch's  Div.,  Fourth  Corps; 
Pleasanton's  Div.  of  Cav.  Union  2,010  killed,  9,410  wounded,  1,043 
missing.  Confed.  3,500  killed,  10,399  wounded,  0,000  missing.  Unit  n 
Brig. -Gen.  Mansfield  killed,  Maj.-Gens.  Hooker  and  Richardson, 
and  Brig. -Gens.  Rodman,  Weber,  Sedgwick,  HartsufT,  Dana,  and 
Meagher  wounded.  Confed.  Brig. -Gens.  Branch,  Anderson,  and 
Starke  killed,  Maj.-Gen.  Anderson,  Brig. -Gens.  Toombs,  Law-tun, 
Kipley,  Rodes,  Gregg,  Armstead,  and  Ransom  wounded. 

19  and  20 — luka,  Miss.  Stanley's  and  Hamilton's  Divisions,  Army  of  the 
Mississippi,  under  Maj.-Gen.  Rosecrans.  Union  144  killed,  59S 
wounded.  Confed.  .203  killed,  092  wounded,  501  captured.  Confed. 
Brig.-Gen.  Little  killed  and  Whitfield  wounded. 

20 — Blackford's  Ford,  Sheppardstown,  Va.  Fifth  Corps,  Griffith's  and 
Barnes'  Brigades.  Union  92  killed,  131  wounded,  103  missing. 
Confed.  33  killed,  231  wounded. 

30 — Xewtonia,  Mo.  1st  Brigade  Army  of  Kansas,  4th  Brigade  Mo.  Militia 
Cav.  Union  50  killed,  80  wounded,  115  missing.  Confed.  220  killed, 
280  wounded. 

OCTOBER,   1862. 

1— Floyd's  Ford,  Ky.     34th  111.,  77th  Penna.,  4th  Ind.  Cav.      No  casualties 

recorded. 
Sheperdstown,  Va.     8th  111.,  8th  Penna.,  3d  Ind.  Cav.,  Pennington's 

Battery.      Union  12  wounded.     Confed.  00  killed. 

3  and  4 — Corinth,  Miss.  McKean's,  Davies',  Hamilton's,  and  Stanley's 
Divisons,  Army  of  the  Miss.  Union  315  killed,  1,812  wounded,  232 
missing.  Confed.  1,423  killed,  5,092  wounded,  2,248  missing.  Union 
Brig. -Gens.  Hacklemans  killed  and  Oglesby  wounded. 

5 — Metamora,  on  Big  Hatchie  River,  Miss.  Hurlburt's  and  Ord's  Divi 
sions.  Union  500  killed  and  wounded.  Confed.  400  killed  and 
wounded. 

7 — La   Vergne,    Tenn.     Palmer's   Brigade.      Union    5   killed,   9   wounded, 

Confed.  SO    killed  and  wounded,  175  missing. 
8 — Perryville,  Ky.     First  Corps,  Army  of  the  Ohio,  Maj.-Gen.   McCook, 

and    Third    Corps,    Brig.-Gen.     Gilbert.      Union    910    killed,     2,943 

wounded,  489  missing.      Confed.  2,500  killed,  wounded,  and  missing. 

Union   Brig. -Gens.   J.   S.   Jackson  and   Terrill   killed.      Conf'd.   Brig.- 

Gens.  Cleburne,  Wood,  and  Brown  wounded. 
10 — Harrodsburg,    Ky.     Union   troops,   commanded  by  Lieut. -Col.    Boyle, 

Uth  Ky.  Cav.      Confed.  1,000  captured. 

11 — La  Grange,  Ark.     Detach.  4th  Iowa  Cav.      Union  4  killed,  13  wounded. 
17— Lexington,  Ky.     Detach.  3d  and  4th  Ohio  Cav.      Union  4  killed,  24 

wounded,  350  missing. 

18 — Haymarket,  Va.      Detach.  Gth  Iowa  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  0  wounded, 

23  captured. 
22— Pocotaligo  or  Yemassee,  S.  C.     47th,  55th,  and  70th  Penna.,  48th  X.  Y 

Oth  and  7th  Conn.,  3d  and  4th  X.  H.,  3d  R.  I.,  1st  X.  Y.  Engineers, 

1st  Mass.  Cav.,  Batteries  D  and  M  1st  U.  S.  Artil.  and  E  3d  U.  S. 

Artil.     Union  43  killed,  258  wounded.    Confed.  14  killed,  102  wounded. 
23— Waverly,    Tenn.     83d    111.      Union    I    killed,   2    wounded.     Confed.    40 

killed  and  wounded. 
24 — Grand     Prairie,     Mo.      Two    Battalions    Mo.     Militia    Cav.      Union    3 

wounded.      Confed.  8  killed,  20  wounded. 
28— Clarkson,  Mo.      Detach.  2d  111.  Artil.      Confed.  10  killed,  2  wounded. 


NOVEMBER,  1862. 

1 — Philomont,  Va.      Pleasanton's  Cavalry.      Union   1  killed,    14  wounded. 
Confed.  5  killed,  10  wounded. 

2  and  3 — Bloomfield  and   Union,  Loudon  Co.,  Va.      Pleasanton's  Cavalry. 
Union  2  killed,  10  wounded.     Confed.  3  killed,  15  wounded. 

3 — Harrisonville,  Mo.      oth  and  Oth  Mo.  Cav.      Union  10  killed,  3  wounded. 
Confed.  0  killed,  20  wounded. 

6 — Barbee's   Cross  Roads  and   Chester  Gap,   Va.     Pleasanton's  Cavalry. 

Union  5  killed,  10  wounded.     Confed.  30  killed. 

Nashville,  Tenn.  16th  and  51st  111.,  09th  Ohio,  14th  Mich.,  78th  Pa., 
5th  Tenn.  Cav.,  7th  Pa.  Cav.  Union  20  wounded.  Confed.  23  cap 
tured. 

6 — Garrettsburg,  Ky.     8th  Ky.  Cav.     Confed.  17  killed,  85  wounded. 

7 — Big  Beaver  Creek,   Mo.      10th  111.,  two  Cos.   Mo.   Militia  Cav.      Union 

300  captured. 
Marianna,  Ark.     3d  and  4th  Iowa,  9th  111.  Cav.      Union  a  killed,  20 

wounded.     Confed.  50  killed  and  wounded. 
8— Hudsonville,  Miss.     7th  Kan.  Cav.,  2d  Iowa  Cav.     Confed.  10  killed, 

185  captured. 

17— Gloucester,  Va.      104th  Pa.      Union  1  killed.  3  wounded. 
18— Rural  Hills,  Tenn.     8th  Ky.  Cav.     Confed.  10  killed. 
21— Beaver    Creek,    Mo.     21st    Iowa,    3d    Mo.    Cav.     Union   0   killed,    10 

wounded.      Confed.  5  killed,  20  wounded. 

26 — Summerville,  Miss.     7th  111.  Cav.     Confed.  28  captured. 
28 — Cane  Hill,  Boston  Mountain,  and  Boonsboro',  Ark.      1st  Division  Army 
of  the  Frontier.      Union  4  killed,  30  wounded.      Confed.  75  killed,  300 
wounded. 

Hart  wood  Church,  Va.  3d  Pa.  Cav.  Union  4  killed,  9  wounded,  200 
missing. 

DECEMBER,   1862. 

1 — Charleston  and  Berryville,  Va.      2.1  Div.  12th  Corps.      Confed.  5  killed, 

18  wounded. 
5 — CofTeeville,  Miss.      1st,  2d,  and  3d  Cav.  Brigades,  Army  of  the  Tennessee. 

Union  10  killed,  54  wounded.     Confed.  7  killed,  43  wounded. 
Helena,  Ark.     30th  Iowa,  29th  Wis.     Confed.  8  killed. 
7 — Prairie  Grove  or  Fayetteville,  Ark.      1st,  2d,  and  3d  Divisions  Army  of 

the  Frontier.      Union  107  killed,  798  wounded,  183  missing.      Confed. 

300  killed,  1,200  wounded  and  missing. 
Hartsville,  Tenn.      100th  and  108th  Ohio,  104th  111.,  2d  Ind.  Cav.,  llth 

Ky.    Cav.,    13th    Ind.    Battery.      Union    55    killed,    1,800    captured. 

Confed.  21  killed,  114  wounded. 
9 — Dobbin's  Ferry,  Tenn.     35th  Ind.,  51st  Ohio,  8th  and  21st  Ky.,  7th  Ind. 

Battery.      Union  5  killed,  48  wounded. 
12— Little  Bear  Creek,  Ala.     52d  111.      Union  1  killed,  2  wounded.     Confed. 

11  killed,  30  wounded. 
12  to  18. — Foster's  expedition  to  Goldsboro',  X.  C.      1st.  2d,  and  3d  Brigades 

of  First   Division  and  Wessell's  Brigade  of  Peck's  Division,   Dep't  of 

North  Carolina.      Union  90  killed,  478  wounded.      Confed.  7}   killed, 

208  wounded,  400  missing. 
13 — Fredericksburg,    Va.     Army    of    the    Potomac,    Maj.-Gen.    Burnside; 

Second  Corps,    Maj.-Gen.   Couch;   Ninth   Corps,   Maj.-Gen.    Wilcox. 

Right     Grand     Div.,     Maj.-Gen.    Sumner;    First    Corps,     Mt  j.-Gen. 

Reynolds;  Sixth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  W.  F.  Smith.     Left  Grand  Div., 

Maj.-Gen.  Franklin;  Fifth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Butterfield;  Third  Corps, 

Maj.-Gen.     Stoneman.      Center     Grand     Div.,     Maj.-Gen.     Hooker. 

Union  1,180  killed,  9,028  wounded,  2,145  missing.      Confed.  579  killed, 

3,870  wounded,  127  missing.      Union  Brig. -Gens.  Jackson  and  Bayard 

killed  and  Gibbons  and  Vinton  wounded.     Confed.  Brig.-Gen.  T.  R.  R. 

Cobb  killed  and  Maxey  Gregg  wounded. 

14 — Kingston.  X.  C.  1st,  2d  and  3d  Brigades  1st  Div.  and  Wessell's  Brigade 
of  Peck's  Division,  Dep't  of  Xorth  Carolina.  Union  40  killeil,  1_0 
wounded.  Confed.  50  killed,  75  wounded,  400  missing. 

18 — Lexington,  Tenn.  llth  111.  Cav.,  oth  Ohio  Cav.,  2d  Tenn.  Cav.  Union 
7  killed.  10  wounded,  124  missing.  Confed.  7  killed,  28  wounded. 

20— Holly  Springs,  Miss.     2d  111.  Cav.      Union  1,000  captured. 

Trenton,  Tenn.  Detachments  122d  111.,  7th  Tenn.  Cav.,  and  conva 
lescents.  Union  1  killed,  250  prisoners.  Confed.  17  killed,  50 
wounded. 

21— Davis's  Mills.  Miss.  Six  Cos.  25th  Ind.,  two  Cos.  5th  Ohio  Cav.  Union 
3  wounded.  Confed.  22  killed,  50  wounded,  '20  missing. 

24 — Middleburg,  Miss.     115  men  of  12th  Mich.     Union  9  wounded.    Confed. 

9  killed,  11  wounded. 

Glasgow,  Ky.  Five  Cos.  2d  Mich.  Cav.  Union  1  killed,  1  wounded. 
Confed.  3  killed,  3  wounded. 

25— Green's  Chapel,  Ky.  Detachment  of  4th  and  5th  Ind.  Cav.  Union  1 
killed.  Confed.  9  killed,  22  wounded. 

26— Bacon  Creek,  Ky.      Detachment  2d  Mich  Cav.      Union  23  wounded. 

27 — Elizabethtown,  Ky.     91st  111.     500  men  captured  by  Morgan. 

Dumfries,  Va.  5th,  7th  and  00th  Ohio,  12th  111.  Cav.,  1st  Md.  Cav., 
Oth  Maine  Battery.  Union  3  killed,  8  wounded.  Confed.  25  k  lied, 
40  wounded. 

28— Elk  Fork.  Tenn.  Oth  and  10th  Ky.  Cav.  Confed.  30  killed,  170 
wounded,  51  missing. 

28  and  29 — Chickasaw  Bayou,  Vicksburg,  Miss.  Army  of  Tennessee.  Maj.- 
Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman— Brig. -Gens.  G.  W.  Morgan's,  Frederick  Steile's. 
M.  L.  Smith's,  and  A.  J.  Smith's  divisions  of  the  right  wing.  Union 
191  killed,  982  wounded,  750  missing.  Confed.  207  wounded.  U .lion 
Maj.-Gen.  M.  L.  Smith  wounded. 

30 — Wautauga  Bridge  and  Carter's  Station,  Tenn.  7th  Ohio  Cav.,  9th  Pa. 
Cav.  Union  1  killed,  2  wounded.  Confed.  7  killed,  15  wounded,  273 
missing. 

Jefferson,  Tenn.  Second  Brigade  1st  Division  Thomas's  corps.  Union 
20  killed,  40  wounded.  Confed.  15  killed,  50  wounded. 

(Continued  in  Section  7) 


McCLELLAN        AT        ANT'ETAM.        SEPTEMBER         17.        1862 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


193 


CONFEDERATE  BATTERIES  ON  THE  JAMES  RIVER  ABOVE  DUTCH  GAP 


194 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  T.  F.  "STONEWALL"  JACKSON,  C.  S.  A. 


CHAPTER  XII.— Continued. 

THE  other  fugitives  were  pursued  by  General  Morris,  accompanied  by  Captain  H.  W.  Benham 
(McClellan's  chief  engineer),  and  were  overtaken  at  Carricksford,  on  a  branch  of  the  Cheat  River. 

There  a  sharp  engagement  occurred,  when  Garnett  was  killed  and  his  forces  were  dispersed.     Another 

portion  of  Garnett's  troops  had  fled  toward  Staunton,  pursued  to  the  summit  of  the  Cheat  Range,  where 

an  Indiana  regiment  established  an  outpost.  Meanwhile  Cox  had 
driven  Wise  out  of  the  Kanawha  region,  and  at  the  middle  of  July 
(1861)  the  war  in  Western  Virginia  seemed  to  be  at  an  end.  On 
the  igth,  McClellan  said,  in  a  dispatch  to  the  War  Department, 
"We  have  completely  annihilated  the  enemy  in  Western  Virginia. 
Our  loss  is  about  thirteen  killed  and  not  more  than  forty  wounded ; 
while  the  enemy's  loss  is  not  far  from  two  hundred  killed;  and 
the  number  of  prisoners  we  have  taken  will  amount  to  at  least 
one  thousand.  We  have  captured  seven  of  the  guns  of  the  enemy, 
in  all." 

The  Confederates  were  not  disposed  to  abandon  the  granary 
that  would  supply  Eastern  Virginia,  without  another  struggle. 
General  Robert  E.  Lee  succeeded  Garnett  in  the  chief  command 
in  that  region.  John  B.  Floyd,  the  treacherous  National  Secre 
tary  of  War,  had  succeeded  Wise  as  a  leader;  but  he,  too,  was  now 
superseded  by  a  better  man,  and  after  a  while  the  war  in  the 
mountain  region  of  Virginia  was  renewed.  McClellan  had  been 
called  to  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  was  suc 
ceeded  in  Western  Virginia  by  General  Rosecrans. 

At  the  beginning  of  June,  it  was  manifest  that  a  powerful 

combination  of  Secessionists  in  Baltimore  were  preparing  to  act  with  the  armed  insurgents  in  Virginia,  in 

efforts  to  seize  the  National  capital.     The  Legislature  of  the  State  were  in  sympathy  with  the  Confederates, 

and  a  committee  of  that  body  assured  Jefferson  Davis  that  the  people  of  Maryland  were  with  him  in 

sentiment.     The  National  Government  took  energetic  measures  to  avert  the  evil.     General  N.  P.  Banks 

was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Department  of  Annapolis, 

with  his  headquarters  in  Baltimore;   and  he  was  so  satisfied  of  a 

conspiracy  ripening  there,  that  he  sent  a  force  of  armed  men  into 

the  city,  who  arrested  Chief  of  Police  Kane  and  put  him  into  Fort 

McHenry.     At  the  same  time  Banks  proclaimed  that  he  had 

appointed  Colonel  (afterward  General)  John  R.   Kenly,  of  the 

First  Regiment  of  Maryland  Volunteers,  provost-marshal.    Kenly 

was  a  well-known  and  highly  respected  citizen  of  Baltimore,  and 

acted  with  wisdom  and  energy.     He  was  put  at  the  head  of  the 

Police  Department;   but  the  old  Board  of  Police  Commissioners, 

who  were  Secessionists,  refused  to  acknowledge  him  and  defied 

the  Government.     They  were  arrested  and  sent  as  prisoners  of 

State  to  Fort  Warren  in  Boston  Harbor,  and  very  soon  afterward 

the  Unionists  of  Maryland  were  encouraged  to  assert  their  loyalty. 

Banks  withdrew  the  troops,  and  thereafter  Maryland  was  justly 

counted  one  of  the  loyal  States  of  the  Union;  yet  for  three  years 

the  Confederates  were  deceived  by  a  belief  that  the  people  were 

Secessionists  at  heart.     But  the  delusion  was  dispelled  when,  in 

1863,  General  Lee  invaded  the  State,  set  up  his  standard,  and  ex 
pected  thousands  would  rally  around  it.     On  the  contrary,  he  lost 

manifold  more  men  by  desertion  than  he  gained  by  recruiting. 

We  have  observed  that  Jefferson  Davis  issued  commissions  to  OEXF.KAL  .1.  E.  R.  STUAUT,  C.  S.  A. 

NOTE— EXPLANATION1  OP  THE  COLORED  FRONTISPIECE  McCLELLAX  AT  ANTIETAM— The  battle  of  Antietam  was  one  of  the  bloody 
and  flcsperate  conflicts  of  the  Civil  War.  This  picture  represents  a  scene  that  occurred  at  the  hour  of  eleven  o'clock,  September  17,  1SG2.  The  troops  shown  in 
this  picture  and  seen  in  the  foreground  and  the  right  background  are  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle,  awaiting  the  orders  to  advance.  General  McClellan  is  riding 
down  the  line  on  his  black  horse,  Daniel  Webster,  called  by  McClellan's  staff,  "that  devil  Dan,"  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  keeping  pace  with  him.  In  the 
background,  the  Federal  troops  are  seen  crossing  Antietam  Creek  in  two  columns.  It  was  at  Burnside's  Bridge,  a  stone  structure  crossing  the  creek,  that 
much  of  the  heaviest  fighting  occurred.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  soldiers  for  "little  Mac"  is  exhibited  in  the  soldier's  cap  thrust  upon  a  bayonet,  and  in  the 
pose  of  the  Union  soldier  in  the  extreme  foreground.  The  heavy  smoke  of  battle  in  the  central  background  marks  the  conflict  raging  on  the  Federal  right. 


Copyright.  1895,  by  CHARLES  F.  JOHNSON.     Copyright,  1905,  by  LOSSING  HISTORY  COMPANY.     Copyright,  1912,  by  THE  WAR  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


195 


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MAP  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF  BULL  RUN  AND  VICINITY 


RUINS  OF  BRIDOE  AT  BULL  RUN 


196 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


privateers,  and  that  a  Confederate  naval  bureau  was  established.  The  first  vessel  of  the  Confederate  navy 
was  named  the  Lady  Davis;  and  when  the  National  Congress  assembled  on  the  4th  of  July,  there  were  no 
less  than  twenty  Confederate  armed  vessels  afloat  and  depredating  upon  the  commerce  of  the  United 
States.  So  early  as  the  ist  of  June  they  had  sent  twenty  vessels, 
captured  on  the  sea,  into  the  port  of  New  Orleans  alone,  as  prizes. 
One  of  these  privateers  (the  Savannah)  was  captured,  and  her  crew 
were  tried  and  condemned  as  pirates ;  but  the  Government  found 
it  expedient  to  treat  them  as  prisoners  of  war.  Another  (the 
Petrel)  went  out  of  Charleston  harbor  and  mistaking  the  United 
States  frigate  Lawrence  for  a  richly -laden  merchantman,  attempted 
to  capture  her.  She  opened  her  ports,  and  instantly  the  Petrel 
became  a  wreck.  A  flash  of  fire,  a  thunder-peal,  the  crash  of  tim 
bers  and  engulfment  in  the  sea,  was  the  experience  of  a  minute  for 
her  crew,  four  of  whom  were  drowned,  while  the  vessel  went 
swiftly  to  the  bottom  of  the  ocean.  Other  privateers  active  dur 
ing  the  war  will  be  noticed  hereafter. 

It  was  now  midsummer,  1861.  A  large  body  of  troops  were 
gathered  around  the  National  capital.  General  Irwin  McDowell 
was  in  command  of  the  Department  of  Virginia,  with  his  head 
quarters  at  Arlington  House.  At  Manassas  Junction,  about  half 
way  between  the  eastern  range  of  the  Blue  Ridge  and  the  Potomac 
at  Alexandria,  and  thirty  miles  from  Washington,  were  about  forty 
thousand  Confederate  troops.  It  was  considered  the  strongest 
military  position  between  Washington  and  Richmond,  and  is  con 
nected  with  the  capital  of  Virginia  and  the  fertile  Shenandoah 
Valley  by  railways.  It  was  fortified  by  strong  redoubts  on  which 
were  mounted  heavy  Dahlgren  guns,  which  the  insurgents  had 
seized  at  the  Gosport  Navy-yard,  and  these  were  managed  by 
naval  officers  who  had  deserted  their  flag.  At  Winchester,  John 
ston  had  almost  as  strong  a  force,  to  prevent  McClellan  and  his 
troops  issuing  from  the  mountain  region  and  joining  General  Patterson  on  the  Potomac  River. 

The  loyal  people  had  become  impatient  because  of  the  delay  of  the  troops  at  the  capital  in  moving 
against  the  insurgents.  They  were  delighted  when,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  i6th  of  July,  the  telegraph 
spread  the  news  over  the  land  that  fifty  thousand  soldiers,  under  General  McDowell,  had  begun  to  move 
toward  Manassas,  leaving  fifteen  thousand  behind  to  guard  the  capital.  They  were  in  five  divisions, 

commanded  respectively  by  Brigadier-Generals  Daniel  Tyler  and 
Theodore  Runyon,  and  Colonels  David  Hunter,  Samuel  P.  Heint- 
zclman,  and  Dixon  S.  Miles.  The  Confederate  forces  against  whom 
they  moved  were  distributed  along  Bull  Run,  a  tributary  of  the 
Occoquan,  from  Union  Mills,  where  the  Orange  and  Alexandria 
Railway  crosses  the  stream,  to  the  stone  bridge  on  the  Warrenton 
turnpike,  a  distance  of  about  eight  miles,  with  reserves  near 
Manassas  Junction.  They  also  had  an  outpost  at  Centreville, 
and  slight  fortifications  at  Fairfax  Court-House,  ten  miles  from 
their  main  army,  in  the  direction  of  Washington. 

General  Patterson  was  at  Martinsburg,  charged  with  the  duty 
of  keeping  General  Johnston  from  reinforcing  Beauregard.  He 
had  crossed  the  Potomac  at  Williamsport  on  the  2d  of  July;  and 
near  Falling  Waters,  his  advance-guard  under  Colonel  Abercrom- 
bie,  chiefly  composed  of  Wisconsin  and  Pennsylvania  troops,  horse 
and  foot,  with  a  section  of  battery,  encountered  Johnston's  ad 
vance  led  by  "Stonewall"  Jackson,  assisted  by  J.  E.  B.  Stuart 
and  his  afterward  famous  cavalry  corps.  They  fought  sharply 
for  half  an  hour,  when  Colonel  George  H.  Thomas's  brigade,  com 
ing  to  the  support  of  Abercrombie,  caused  the  Confederates  to 
flee.  They  were  hotly  pursued  five  miles,  when  a  heavy  Confed- 
GENEHAL  H.  W.  SLOCUM  erate  force  appearing,  the  chase  was  abandoned.  On  the  following 


CiKN'EHAL    J.    A.    McCl.KHNAND 


A     HISTORY     OF     THE     CIVIL     WAR 


197 


VIEWS  IN  CAMP  NEAR  CUMBERLAND  LANDING — ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC 


198 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


COLONEL  E.  D.  BAKER 


day  General  Patterson  and  his  army  entered  Martinsburg,  and  were  speedily  reinforced  by  troops  under 
General  Sandford  of  New  York.     There  he  remained  in  enforced  inaction  for  a  fortnight. 

The  aged  General  Scott  was  too  feeble  in  mind  and  body  to  take  command  in  the  field,  and  that 

imbecility  caused  disaster.  The  duty  devolved  upon  General 
McDowell.  The  latter  ordered  General  Tyler  to  advance  to 
Vienna  on  the  evening  of  the  i6th  of  July;  and  early  the  next 
morning  the  remainder  of  the  army  moved  in  four  columns,  with 
the  intention,  by  making  feints,  to  throw  the  Confederates  off 
their  guard,  gain  their  rear,  seize  the  railway,  and  compel  both 
Beauregard  and  Johnston  to  fall  back  from  their  positions,  so 
menacing  to  the  seat  of  Government.  But  spies  and  traitors, 
yet  swarming  in  Washington,  kept  Beauregard  continually  ad 
vised  not  only  of  the  movements,  but  of  the  intentions  of  the 
National  troops.  There  were  traitors,  evidently,  in  possession 
of  the  secrets  of  the  office  of  the  General-in-Chief,  for  a  copy  of 
a  military  map  was  found  in  a  deserted  Confederate  camp  only 
two  days  after  the  original  was  completed. 

McDowell's  columns  moved  by  different  roads,  without 
much  opposition.  They  entered  the  village  of  Fairfax  Court- 
House  unopposed;  and  when  they  approached  Centreville,  the 
Confederates  fled.  The  Nationals  were  in  high  spirits,  for  it 
appeared  as  if  the  march  to  Richmond  would  be  a  pleasant  ex 
cursion.  But  Beauregard  was  alluring  them  into  a  perilous  posi 
tion,  as  they  found,  on  the  i8th,  when  General  Tyler  made  a 
reconnaissance  in  force  at  Blackburn's  Ford,  on  Bull  Run,  which 
was  guarded  by  General  James  Longstreet  with  a  strong  force  of 
men  and  concealed  batteries.  A  severe  conflict  ensued,  in  which  Michigan,  Massachusetts,  and  New 
York  troops,  with  Ayers's  battery,  were  engaged.  At  length  the  Nationals,  defeated,  withdrew  to  Centre 
ville;  and  McDowell  was  satisfied  that  his  plan  for  gaining  the  rear  of  the  Confederates  was  impracticable. 
The  affair  at  Blackburn's  Ford  revealed  the  strength  of  the  Confederates,  and  McDowell  perceived 
the  necessity  for  an  immediate  and  vigorous  attack  upon  the  enemy,  for  the  term  of  enlistment  of  about 
ten  thousand  of  his  troops  was  about  to  expire.  He  then  had  thirty-five  thousand  men  under  his  imme 
diate  command.  These  were  massed  around  Centreville  ready  to 
move;  but  for  want  of  needed  supplies  they  were  detained  until 
the  close  of  the  2oth,  when  the  army  had  begun  to  melt  away  from 
the  cause  just  mentioned. 

At  two  o'clock  the  next  morning  (July  21,  1861)  the  troops 
moved  from  Centreville  in  three  columns,  the  moon  shining 
brightly,  to  attack  the  left  flank  of  the  Confederates.  General 
Tyler,  with  the  brigades  of  Schenck  and  Sherman,  and  the  bat 
teries  of  Ayres  and  Carlisle,  moved  on  the  Warrenton  turnpike 
toward  the  stone  bridge,  leaving  Miles  and  Richardson  to  watch 
and  guard  Blackburn's  Ford.  The  object  was  to  make  a  feigned 
attack  near  the  bridge,  while  the  two  columns  of  Hunter  and 
Heintzelman  should  cross  Bull  Run  at  Sudley  Church,  and  fall 
upon  the  Confederate  left.  These  movements  were  very  slow; 
and  General  McDowell,  who  was  ill,  and  in  a  carriage,  becoming 
impatient,  mounted  his  horse  and  with  his  cavalry  escort,  com 
manded  by  Colonel  A.  G.  Brackett,  he  rode  forward,  passed  the 
two  columns  toiling  along  a  rough  forest  road,  and  first  entered 
the  open  field  which  became  a  battle-ground. 

Meanwhile  important  movements  had  been  made  on  the  Con 
federate  side,  of  which  McDowell  was  ignorant.  When  he  ad 
vanced  to  Fairfax  Court-House,  Beauregard  informed  Davis,  at 
Richmond,  of  the  movement,  who  ordered  Johnston  to  hasten  to 
join  the  forces  at  Manassas  with  the  army  of  the  Shenandoah.  It 
was  necessary  for  Johnston  to  fight  and  defeat  Patterson  or  elude  COLOXEL  JAMES  A.  MULLIGAN 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


199 


FOHD  AND  PONTOON  BRIDGE  AT  BULL  RUN 


"QUAKER"  GUNS  AT  CENTREVILLE,  VA.,  BATTLE  OF  BULL  RUN 


200 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


him.  He  accomplished  the  latter,  and  with  six  thousand  infantry  he  hastened  to  Manassas,  where  he 
arrived  at  noon  on  the  2oth,  the  remainder  of  his  army  following  at  a  slower  pace.  This  reinforcement 
made  Beauregard's  army  outnumber  McDowell's  by  four  thousand  men,  and  being  strongly  fortified,  he 
had  an  important  advantage.  Johnston,  the  senior  in  rank,  took  chief  command. 

General  Tyler  opened  the  memorable  battle  by  firing  a  shell  among  the  Confederates  near  the  stone 
bridge,  commanded  by  Colonel  Evans.  Others  followed ;  and  Beauregard,  believing  it  to  be  a  real  attack, 
sent  reinforcements  to  Evans.  At  the  same  time  Johnston  ordered  a  quick  and  vigorous  attack  upon 
McDowell's  left  wing  at  Blackburn's  Ford,  not  doubting,  because  of  the  superior  force  of  Confederates  in 
that  quarter,  that  they  would  win  a  complete  victory.  The  assailants  were  led  by  General  Ewell.  The 
movement  miscarried;  and  from  an  eminence  Johnston  and  Beauregard  watched  the  opening  conflict 
with  great  anxiety.  A  cloud  of  dust  seen  far  to  the  northward  gave  Johnston  apprehensions  that  Patterson, 


when  he  discovered  the 
given  chase  or  was  ha- 

Colonel  Evans  was 
nonade  below  was  only 
ofheavy  columns 
o'clock  scouts  told  him 
ley  Church.  It  was 
Hampshire  and  Massa- 
and  Reynolds,  the  whole 
pared  to  meet  them; 
was  sent  forward  to  as- 
Nationals  appeared  in 
battle  began.  Only  a 
vale  separated  the  corn- 
Evans's  line  began  to 
Bee  advanced  with  fresh 
strength.  The  National 
ble,  and  Colonel  Burn- 
Colonel  Andrew  Porter 
battalion  of  regular  infantry  under  Major 

The  battle  now  raged  furiously.  Hunter 
and  Colonel  Slocum  of  Rhode  Island  was  killed, 
Sprague,  governor  of  the  little  Commonwealth, 
troops  from  that  State.  At  length  Porter  came 
poured  such  a  heavy  fire  upon  Evans's  left,  that 
bend.  At  that  moment  the  head  of  Heintzel- 
also  Sherman's  brigade,  whom  Tyler  had  sent, 
to  assist  Burnside.  These  reinforcements  were 
als,  who  had  been  on  their  feet  since  midnight, 

A  furious  charge  made  by  a  New  York  regi- 


GENERAL  J.  M.  BRANNON 


departure  of  the  army  of  the  Shenandoah,  had 
stening  to  reinforce  McDowell, 
soon  satisfied  that  Tyler's  attack  and  the  can- 
a  feint.  He  had  been  informed  of  the  march 
through  the  forests  on  his  left,  and  before  ten 
that  one  column  was  crossing  Bull  Run  at  Sud- 
Hunter's,  composed  of  Rhode  Island,  New 
chusetts  troops,  with  the  batteries  of  Griffin 
led  by  Colonel  Burnside.  Evans  at  once  pre- 
and  General  Bee,  who  commanded  reserves, 

sist  him.  Very  soon  the 
the  open  field,  and  a 
small  stream  in  a  little 
batants.  Hard  pressed, 
waver,  when  General 
troops  and  gave  it 
line  then  began  to  trem- 
side  called  for  help, 
responded  by  sending  a 
George  Sykes. 
was  severely  wounded 
when  the  youthful 
took  command  of  the 
up  with  his  men  and 
his  line  again  began  to 
man's  column  appeared; 
under  Colonel  Corcoran, 
timely;  for  the  Nation- 
were  nearly  exhausted, 
mcnt  under  Colonel  H. 


GENERAL  J.  J.  REYNOLDS 


W.  Slocum,  shattered  the  bending  Confederate  line,  and  the  troops  fled  in  confusion  to  a  plateau  whereon 
General  T.  J.  Jackson  had  just  arrived  with  reserves.  "They  are  beating  us  back!"  exclaimed  General 
Bee.  "Well,  sir,"  calmly  replied  Jackson,  "we  will  give  them  the  bayonet!"  Bee  wras  encouraged. 
"Form!  form!"  he  cried  to  the  fugitives.  "There  stands  Jackson  like  a  stone  wall."  The  effect  of  these 
words  was  wonderful.  Their  flight  was  checked,  and  order  was  soon  brought  out  of  confusion.  Ever 
afterward,  the  calm  general  was  called  "Stonewall  Jackson." 

It  was  now  noon.  Alarmed  by  the  unexpected  strength  of  the  Nationals,  Johnston  and  Beauregard 
sent  bodies  of  troops,  under  Holmes,  Early,  and  Ewell,  in  the  direction  of  the  sounds  of  battle,  four  miles 
distant.  The  two  commanders  hastened  to  the  plateau,  when  Johnston,  the  chief  by  seniority,  after 
reorganizing  the  shattered  columns,  left  Beauregard  in  command  on  the  field  and  hastened  to  a  position 
from  which  he  had  a  view  of  the  whole  area  of  operations  and  of  the  country  toward  Manassas,  whence 
reinforcements  from  the  Shenandoah  Valley  were  momentarily  expected.  Without  these,  he  had  small 
hope  of  success.  From  his  new  position  he  also  sent  forward  reinforcements;  and  at  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  when  the  conflict  was  renewed,  the  Confederates  had  ten  thousand  soldiers,  with  twenty-two 
heavy  guns  in  battle  order  on  the  plateau.  Meanwhile  the  Nationals  had  been  preparing  for  the  struggle. 
At  one  o'clock  they  had  gained  possession  of  the  Warrenton  Turnpike,  the  grand  objective  of  the  march 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


201 


202 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


against  the  Confederate  left;  but  their  enemies  must  be  driven  from  the  plateau  before  victory  would 
be  secured.  To  accomplish  this  five  brigades,  namely,  Porter's,  Howard's,  Franklin's,  Wilcox's  and 
Sherman's,  with  the  batteries  of  Ricketts,  Griffin  and  Arnold,  and  cavalry  under  Major  Palmer,  were 

to  turn  the  Confederate  left,  while  Keyes 
was  sent  to  annoy  them  on  the  right. 

Colonel  Heintzelman  accompanied 
McDowell  as  his  lieutenant  on  the  field, 
and  his  division  began  the  attack.  They 
pressed  forward  in  the  face  of  a  storm  of 
balls  from  batteries,  and  gained  possession 
of  a  portion  of  the  plateau.  There  was  an 
elevation  near  that  commanded  the  whole 
plateau,  and  McDowell  ordered  Ricketts 
and  Griffin  to  plant  their  batteries  upon  it, 
with  the  immediate  support  of  Ellsworth's 
Fire  Zouaves,  under  Colonel  Farnham.  It 
was  accomplished,  while  New  York,  Massa 
chusetts  and  Minnesota  troops  took  a  posi 
tion  to  the  left  of  the  batteries.  As  the 
artillery  and  Zouaves  went  boldly  forward 
in  the  face  of  a  severe  fire  from  the  enemy, 
they  were  suddenly  attacked  on  the  flank 
by  Alabamians  in  ambush,  and  then  by  two 
companies  of  Stuart's  Black-horse  cavalry, 
in  the  rear.  The  Zouaves  recoiled,  and  the 
horsemen  dashed  entirely  through  the  shat 
tered  column.  Colonel  Farnham  rallied 
his  men,  and  with  some  assistance  they  at 
tacked  the  Confederate  horsemen  so  furi 
ously  that  they  were  dispersed. 

When  the  Zouaves  gave  way,  Heintzel 
man  ordered  up  a  Minnesota  regiment  to 
the  support  of  the  batteries.  Suddenly  the 
Confederates,  in  overwhelming  force,  deliv- 

GENERAL  PATTERSON  ,  -,  c       j.i_    L  j-      1.1    j  ,ti_     i_ 

GENERAL  PALMER  ercd  a  murderous  fire  that  disabled  the  bat 

teries  by  prostrating  the  men,  when  the 

struggle  for  the  plateau  became  fearful.  Both  sides  suffered  dreadfully.  Johnston  heard  of  the  slaughter 
and  lost  heart.  He  had  ordered  Early  up,  at  eleven  o'clock,  with  three  fresh  regiments,  but  they  did  not 
come.  It  was  now  three  o'clock.  "Oh  for  four  regiments!"  said  Johnston  bitterly,  to  Colonel  Cocke. 
His  wish  was  more  than  satisfied.  Just  then  he  saw  a  cloud  of  dust  in  the  direction  of  the  Manassas  Gap 
Railway.  It  was  caused  by  a  part  of  his  own  Shenandoah  army,  four  thousand  strong,  under  General 
E.  Kirby  Smith.  They  were  received  with  joy,  and  were  ordered  into  action  immediately.  Beauregard's 
force  was  almost  doubled  by  these  and  other  fresh  troops;  and  the  blow  that  now  smote  McDowell's 
troops,  just  as  they  were  about  to  grasp  the  palm  of  victory,  was  sudden,  unexpected,  heavy,  and  over 
powering.  In  fifteen  minutes  the  Nationals  were  swept  from  the  plateau.  As  regiment  after  regiment 
gave  way  and  hurried  toward  the  turnpike  in  confusion,  panic  seized  others,  and  at  four  o'clock  a  greater 
portion  of  the  National  army  were  flying  across  Bull  Run  toward  Centreville.  With  many  it  was  not  a 
retreat,  but  a  disorderly  rout.  They  left  behind  them  over  three  thousand  men  killed,  wounded,  or  made 
prisoners.  The  Confederates  lost  over  two  thousand.  The  Confederate  congress  had  assembled  at 
Richmond  the  day  before;  and  Jefferson  Davis,  who  arrived  on  the  battle-field  just  as  the  flight  began, 
sent  back  to  his  associates  an  exultant  shout  of  victory,  by  the  telegraph.  It  was  echoed,  in  varying 
notes,  over  the  Confederacy,  while  the  vanquished  army  was  hastening,  in  fragments,  back  to  the  defence 
of  the  capital.  For  a  moment  the  gloom  of  deep  despondency  settled  upon  the  hearts  of  the  loyal  portion 
of  the  nation. 

The  gravity  of  the  occasion  was  so  little  appreciated,  that  when  it  was  known  at  Washington  that 
McDowell  was  to  attack  Beauregard  on  Sunday,  the  2ist,  scores  of  men,  and  even  women — Congressmen, 
officials  of  every  grade,  and  plain  citizens — went  out  in  carriages  as  to  a  spectacular  show  for  amusement. 


COLONEL  RIKER 

GENERAL  NACJLEE 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


203 


A  REGIMENT  IN  CAMP 


DUTCH  GAP  CANAL  ON  THE  JAMES,  CUT  BY  GENERAL  B.  F.  BUTLER 


204 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


Passes  from  military  commanders  were  like  tickets  to  a  Roman  gladiatorial  combat  in  the  circus;  and 
the  vicinity  of  the  battle-field  was  gay,  on  Sunday  morning,  with  civilians,  who  indulged  in  wine  and 
cigars  at  the  headquarters  of  Colonel  Miles  at  Centreville.  The  heights  there  were  crowded  with  spectators, 
and  as  the  battle  went  on,  and  bombs  "bursted  in  air,"  their  cheeks  were  made  to  glow  with  delicious 
excitement.  Before  night  those  cheeks  were  made  pale  by  terror  as  the  crowd  of  spectators  rushed  back, 
pell-mell,  toward  places  of  safety,  pursued  by  the  Confederates.  Soldiers  and  citizens  and  well-dressed 
women  were  mingled  in  picturesque  confusion  in  the  line  of  fugitives  who  crowded  the  highways.  In 
several  places  the  roads  were  blocked  with  overturned  vehicles  or  abandoned  cannon;  and  horses  and 
human  kind  seemed  equally  eager  to  escape  from  the  whirlwind  of  destruction  that  followed  in  fury  behind 
them  for  a  while.  But  the  pursuit  of  the  Confederates  was  soon  stayed  by  misinformation.  Had  they 
pressed  on,  their  coveted  prize,  the  National  capital,  might  have  been  in  their  possession  before  Monday 
morning. 

The  battle  at  Bull  Run  depressed  the  loyal  people  only  for  a  moment,  and  there  was  a  quick  rebound 
from  despair  to  hope.  Another  uprising  by  the  loyalists  in  favor  of  the  Union  took  place,  and  the  gaps 
in  the  National  armies  were  more  than  filled  within  a  fortnight  by  new  recruits.  The  Confederates  were 
weakened  by  their  victory,  for  it  gave  them  undue  confidence  in  their  strength  and  prowess,  and  made 
them  neglect  to  profit  by  it.  . ,  But  circumstances  soon  after 


ward  caused  a  "solid  South  "  to 
Government,  and  the  Confed- 
sustained  by  the  people  o  f 

General  Patterson  was  un- 
hold  Johnston  at  Winchester  or 
the  truth  was  made  known  by 
clear  that  he  did  all  an  obedient 
could  do  under  the  circum- 
was  satisfied,  and  made  no 

While  the  events  we  have 
in  the  East,  the  war  was  making 
pecially  in  Missouri, where  Gen- 
taken  vigorous  measures  to 
loyal  governor  of  Missouri,  who 
Jefferson  City,  fled  westward 
General  Price,  and  took  a  stand 
were  attacked  by  Lyon  and  de- 
toward  the  southwestern  por- 
far  from  the  Arkansas  border, 
over  the  whole  region  north 
east  of  a  line  from  Booneville  to 
to  the  Government  the  impor- 


GENEKAL  G.  H.  THOMAS 


be  arrayed  against  the  National 
crate  armies  were  wonderfully 
the  whole  South, 
justly  censured  for  his  failure  to 
to  reinforce  McDowell.  When 
positive  testimony,  it  appeared 
soldier,  bound  by  instructions, 
stances,  and  the  public  mind 
further  criticism.  _ 
just  considered  were  occurring 
rapid  progress  in  the  West,  es- 
eral  Lyon,  as  we  have  seen,  had 
quell  the  rebellion.  The  dis- 
raised  the  standard  of  revolt  at 
with  troops  who  were  led  by 
near  Booneville.  There  they 
feated,  when  they  retreated 
tion  of  Missouri,  and  halted  not 
Lyon  now  held  military  control 
ward  of  the  Missouri  River,  and 
the  Arkansas  border,  thus  giving 
tant  points  of  St.  Louis,  Hanni 


bal,  St.  Joseph,  and  Bird's  Point  on  the  Mississippi,  as  bases  of  operations,  with  railways  and  rivers  for 
transportation.  General  Lyon  remained  about  a  fortnight  at  Booneville  preparing  for  a  vigorous  campaign 
against  the  insurgents  whom  Jackson  was  gathering  around  him  in  southwestern  Missouri.  He  issued  a 
proclamation  which  quieted  the  people  and  strengthened  the  Union  cause,  for  he  assured  them  that  his 
Government  had  no  other  end  in  view  than  the  maintenance  of  its  authority  over  the  persons  and  property 
of  the  whole  people  of  the  State. 

On  the  ist  of  July  (1861)  there  were  at  least  ten  thousand  loyal  troops  in  Missouri,  and  as  many  more 
might  have  been  thrown  into  it  from  camps  in  Illinois,  in  the  space  of  forty-eight  hours.  At  the  same 
time,  Colonel  Franz  Sigel,  a  German  soldier  and  patriot,  was  pushing  eager  soldiers  toward  insurgent 
camps  on  the  borders  of  Kansas  and  Arkansas.  On  the  5th  of  July  he  encountered  a  considerable  force 
under  Jackson  and  Brigadier-General  Rains,  near  Carthage.  Their  force  was  much  greater  in  number 
than  his  o\vn,  and  after  a  sharp  fight  he  was  pressed  back  and  retreated  in  good  order  to  Springfield. 
Lyon,  who  was  then  at  the  head  of  a  small  force,  eighty  miles  from  Springfield,  satisfied  of  Sigel's  peril, 
hastened  forward  to  his  relief,  by  forced  marches,  and  encamped  not  far  from  him  on  the  i^th  of  July 
and  took  command  of  the  combined  forces.  In  the  meantime  troops  from  Texas  under  Generals  McCul- 
loch,  Rains,  Pearce  and  McBride,  had  joined  Price,  making  his  whole  force  about  twenty  thousand  men. 
They  were  now  marching  on  Springfield.  To  confront  them  Lyon  had  not  more  than  six  thousand  men, 
horse  and  foot  (the  former  about  five  hundred  in  number),  and  eighteen  pieces  of  artillery.  With  this 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


205 


O 
B 

a 

a 
o 

w 


Q 

a 


O 


206 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  W.  T.  SHERMAN 


comparatively  feeble  force  Lyon  went  out  to  meet  his  enemies,  and 
at  Dug  Springs,  about  nineteen  miles  west  from  Springfield,  they 
met  and  fought  a  desperate  battle  on  the  2d  of  August.  The 
Confederates  were  led  by  General  Rains.  So  furious  was  the 
charge  of  Lyon's  cavalry,  in  the  engagement,  led  by  Captain 
Stanley,  that  Confederate  prisoners  seriously  inquired :  "Are  they 
men  or  devils  ?"  The  Confederates  were  beaten  and  fled  to  Wilson's 
Creek,  about  ten  miles  south  of  Springfield,  where  they  encamped 
on  the  evening  of  the  gth  wearied  and  half-starved. 

The  Confederates  anxiously  sought  rest  and  refreshment,  but 
Lyon  would  not  grant  them  the  boon.  Before  the  dawn  the  next 
morning  he  marched  against  them  in  two  columns,  one  led  by 
himself  to  fall  upon  their  front;  the  other,  under  Sigel,  twelve 
hundred  strong,  with  six  field-pieces,  to  attack  their  rear.  A 
battle  began  at  an  early  hour.  Lyon's  column  bore  the  brunt  of 
the  conflict.  His  words  and  deeds  inspired  his  men  to  fight  val 
iantly.  Wherever  the  storm  of  battle  was  raging  fiercest,  there 
Lyon  was  seen.  Very  early  in  the  severe  engagement,  his  horse 
was  shot  under  him.  Then  he  received  a  wound  in  the  leg. 
Another  in  the  head  soon  followed  and  partially  stunned  him. 
Mounting  the  horse  of  one  of  Major  Sturgis's  orderlies,  and  placing 
himself  at  the  head  of  Kansas  troops,  he  swung  his  hat  over  his 

head,  and  called  upon  the  men  to  follow.     While  dashing  forward  with   a  determination  to  gain  the 

victory,  a  rifle-ball  passed  through  his  body,  near  his  heart,  and  he  expired  in  a  few  minutes.     The  conflict 

continued  about  two  hours  longer,  and   at  eleven  o'clock   it   ceased,   the   Confederates,  discomfited, 

withdrawing  from  the  field.     The  loss  of  the  Nationals  in  the  battle  was  between  twelve  and  thirteen 

hundred,  and  of  the  Confederates  full  three  thousand.      The  former 

fell  back  to  Springfield,  and  the  next  morning  (August  1 1 )  the  whole 

Union  force,  under  the  general  command  of  Sigel,  retreated  from 

Springfield  to  Rolla,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  in  the 

direction  of  St.  Louis,  safely  conducting  a  Government  train  valued 

at  $1,500,000. 

WThen  Governor  Jackson  set  up  the  standard  of  revolt  at 

the  capital  of  Missouri,  the  loyal  men  of  the  Commonwealth  tried 

to  stay  the  hand  of  secession.     They  had  held  a  State  Convention 

in  February,  at  which  no  openly  avowed  disunionist  appeared. 

That  Convention  reassembled  at  Jefferson  City  on  the  226  of  July, 

and  declared  the  government  of  which  Jackson  was  the  head  to 

be  illegal.     They  organized  a  provisional  government  for  service 

until  a  permanent  one  might  be  established  by  the  people.     The 

Convention  issued  an  address  to  the  inhabitants,  in  which  the 

treason  of  the  governor  was  exposed.     Meanwhile  General  Pillow, 

by  invitation  of  the  governor,  had  entered  the  Commonwealth  at 

the  head  of  Tennessee  troops  to  act  in  concert  with  M.  Jefferson 

Thompson,  the  leader  of  the  State  militia.     The  shallow  Pillow, 

vain  as  he  was  incompetent,  assumed  the  pompous  title  of  "Lib 
erator  of  Missouri,"  and  dated  his  orders  and  despatches,  "Head 
quarters  Army  of  Liberation."  Missouri  was  not  annexed  to  the 

Confederacy;   but  persons  claiming  to  represent  that  State  sat  in 

the  Confederate  Congress  at  Richmond  during  a  greater  part  of 

the  period  of  the  Civil  War.  GENERAL  J.  C.  FREMONT 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


207 


V. 
x 


VIEW  OF  HAMPTON,  VIRGINIA 


VIEW  OF  CAMP — ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC 


208 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

Fremont  in  Missouri — Siege  and  Fall  of  Lexington — Kentucky  Neutrality  Violated  by  the  Confederates — Events  in  Eastern  Kentucky — 
Buckner's  Raid — Fremont  Superseded — Battle  at  Belmont — Military  Movements  in  Northwestern  Virginia — Lee,  Floyd  and  Wise- 
Cm!  War  Ended  in  West  Virginia — Capture  of  Hatteras  Forts — Events  near  Fort  Pickens  and  Southwest  Pass — Operations  on  the 
Coast  of  South  Carolina — McClellan  in  Command — "On  to  Richmond!" — Boldness  of  the  Confederates — They  are  Pushed  Back — 
Battle  at  Ball's  Bluff. 

JOHN  C.  FREMONT,  the  eminent  explorer  and  meritorious  soldier,  who  was  in  Europe  when  the  war 
began,  after  purchasing  arms  for  the  Government  there,  hastened  home  and  was  commissioned  major- 
general  of  volunteers.     On  the  6th  of  July,  he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Department  of 
Missouri,  with  his  headquarters  at  St.  Louis,  where,  in  consequence  of  General  Lyon  having  taken  the 
field  in  person,  he  found  everything  in  confusion.     He  entered  upon  his  duties  with  vigor.     He  caused 


St.  Louis  to  be  fortified; 
site  Cairo,  on  the  Mis- 
cure  from  the  operations 

When,  on  the  death 
retreat  of  the  National 
toward  St.  Louis,  Pre 
cession  element  in  Mis- 
defiant,  he  took  the  civil 
power  in  his  department 
soon  caused  his  oppo- 
cumspection.  He  pro- 
assured  the  disaffected 
ously  enforced.  His 
jealousies ;  and  such  mis 
laid  before  his  Govern- 
which,  at  the  outset, 
suits,  were  restrained, 
rigors  of  martial  law 

Fremont  had  al- 
ridding  not  only  Mis- 
Mississippi  Valley,  of 
for  opening  the  naviga- 
which  was  then  ob- 
batteries  at  Memphis 


GENERAL  HEINTZELMAN  AND  STAFF 


and  Bird's  Point,  oppo- 
sissippi,  was  made  se- 
of  the  Confederates, 
of  General  Lyon  and  the 
troops  from  Springfield 
mont  perceived  the  se- 
souri  to  be  strong  and 
as  well  as  the  military 
into  his  own  hands,  and 
nents  to  act  with  cir- 
claimed  martial  law,  and 
that  it  would  be  vigor- 
energy  created  many 
representations  were 
ment  that  his  actions, 
promised  the  best  re- 
and  the  wholesome 
were  entirely  removed, 
ready  formed  a  plan  for 
souri,  but  the  whole 
armed  insurgents,  and 
tion  of  the  great  river 
structed  by  Confederate 
and  elsewhere.  His  plan 


contemplated  the  capture  or  dispersion  of  troops  under  General  Price,  in  Missouri,  and  the  seizure  of 
Little  Rock,  the  capital  of  Arkansas.  By  so  doing  Fremont  expected  to  turn  the  position  of  the  forces, 
under  Pillow  and  others,  in  the  vicinity  of  New  Madrid,  cut  off  their  supplies  from  the  southwest  and 
compel  them  to  retreat,  at  which  time  a  flotilla  of  gunboats  then  a-building  near  St.  Louis  might  descend 
the  Mississippi  and  assist  in  military  operations  against  the  batteries  at  Memphis.  In  the  event  of  this 
movement  being  successful,  he  proposed  to  push  on  toward  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  with  his  army,  and  take 
possession  of  New  Orleans. 

After  the  battle  of  Wilson's  Creek,  General  McCulloch,  the  Texan  leader,  abandoned  General  Price, 
because  they  could  not  agree,  when  the  latter,  in  sole  command,  called  upon  the  Secessionists  to  fill  up 
his  ranks.  They  responded  with  alacrity;  and  at  the  middle  of  August,  Price  moved  northward  in  the 
direction  of  Lexington,  which  was  situated  in  a  curve  of  the  Missouri  River.  It  occupied  an  important 
position,  and  was  garrisoned  by  less  than  three  thousand  troops  under  Colonel  James  A.  Mulligan.  Early 
in  September,  when  Price  had  reached  its  vicinity,  Mulligan  resolved  to  defend  the  place,  with  his  small 
army,  and  cast  up  intrenchments  around  his  camp.  At  that  time  a  larger  Union  force  was  at  the  State 
capital,  under  Colonel  Jefferson  C.  Davis,  and  General  John  Pope  was  coming  down  from  the  country 
northward  of  the  Missouri  River,  with  five  thousand  more.  Price  perceived  his  danger,  and  pressing 
vigorously  forward,  besieged  Lexington  on  the  nth  of  September,  with  twenty  thousand  men,  which 
number  soon  increased  to  twenty-five  thousand,  by  reinforcements.  Mulligan  was  inadequately  supplied 
with  heavy  guns  and  ammunition  to  sustain  a  siege;  and  after  a  gallant  defence  of  the  post  against 
overwhelming  numbers,  until  the  morning  of  the  2oth,  he  was  compelled  to  surrender.  This  disaster  was. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


209 


SCKNES    IN    AND    NEAR    YoKKTOWN 


210 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


severely  felt  by  the  Unionists;    and  Fremont,  resolving  to  retrieve  it,  at  once  put  in  motion  an  army 
of  more  than  twenty  thousand  men  to  drive  Price  and  his  followers  out  of  Missouri. 

Early  in  the  summer  the  .disloyal  governor  of  Kentucky 
declared  that  arrangements  had  been  made  at  Cincinnati,  with 
General  McClellan,  that  neither  National  nor  Confederate  troops 
should  enter  Kentucky.  McClellan  denied  the  truth  of  the  asser 
tions;  but  for  several  months  the  neutrality  of  Kentucky  was  as 
much  respected  as  if  such  an  arrangement  was  in  force;  and  the 
purposes  of  the  governors  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  were  pro 
moted,  for  it  gave  them  more  time  to  prepare  for  war.  In  the 
meantime  Pillow  had  been  unsuccessfully  trying  to  capture  Cairo 
by  military  operations  in  Missouri.  He  urged  the  seizure  of  the 
bluff  at  Columbus,  in  Western  Kentucky,  from  which  he  believed 
he  might  take  Cairo  in  reverse,  turn  its  guns  upon  Bird's  Point, 
drive  out  and  disperse  the  Nationals,  and  so  make  a  free  passage 
for  the  Confederates  to  St.  Louis.  The  solemn  pledges  of  his 
masters  to  respect  Kentucky  neutrality,  restrained  Pillow ;  but  in 
September  (1861)  the  Confederates  resolved  to  violate  that  neu 
trality.  General  (Bishop)  Polk  seized  the  strong  position  at 
Columbus,  with  a  considerable  body  of  troops,  under  the  pretext 
that  National  forces  were  preparing  to  occupy  that  place.  The 
Confederate  secretary  of  war  publicly  telegraphed  to  Polk  to 
withdraw  his  troops;  and  at  the  same  time  Jefferson  Davis  pri 
vately  telegraphed  to  him  to  hold  on,  saying:  "The  necessity 
must  justify  the  means."  So  Columbus  was  held  by  the  Confed 
erates.  The  loyal  members  of  the  Kentucky  Legislature  requested 
the  governor  to  call  out  the  militia  of  the  State  to  expel  the  in 
vaders,  and  asked  the  National  Government  to  aid  him.  The 
governor  did  nothing;  but  General  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  then  in  com 
mand  of  the  district  around  Cairo,  took  military  possession  of  Paducah,  in  Northern  Kentucky,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee  River.  The  seizure  of  Columbus  by  the  Confederates  opened  the  way  to 
all  the  horrors  of  war  which  Kentucky  suffered;  and  the  occupation  of  Paducah  by  National  troops 
ended  the  "neutrality"  of  that  State.  Thenceforth  Kentucky  was  numbered  among  the  loyal  States. 

On  the  day  after  Polk  seized  Columbus,  a  Confederate  force  under  General  Zollicoffer  (formerly  a 
member  of  Congress)  invaded  Kentucky  from  East  Tennessee,  where  the  loyalists  were  suffering  peculiar 
hardships  at  the  hands  of  the  Secessionists.  At  the  same  time,  Simon  B.  Buckner,  who  had  been  placed 
in  command  of  the  professed  "neutral"  Kentucky  State  Guard,  formed  a  Confederate  camp  in  Tennessee, 
just  below  the  Kentucky  border,  and,  acting  in  co-operation  with  Polk  and  Zollicoffer,  attempted  to  seize 
Louisville.  He  was  foiled  by  the  vigilance  of  General  Anderson  (late  of  Fort  Sumter) ,  who  was  in  command 
there,  with  General  W.  T.  Sherman  as  his  lieutenant.  Buckner 
fell  back  to  Bowling  Green,  on  the  Nashville  and  Louisville  Rail 
road,  and  there  established  a  camp  as  a  nucleus  of  a  powerful 
Confederate  force  that  was  gathered  soon  afterward. 

Buckner's  raid  and  the  invasion  of  Zollicoffer  aroused  the 
Unionists  of  Eastern  Kentucky,  who  flew  to  arms  under  various 
leaders.  In  an  attack  upon  a  camp  of  Kentucky,  Indiana  and 
Ohio  troops,  under  Colonel  Garrard,  at  the  Rock  Castle  Hills,  a 
picturesque  region  of  the  Cumberland  Mountains,  Zollicoffer  was 
repulsed,  on  the  2ist  of  October.  Further  eastward,  near  Pike- 
ton,  the  capital  of  Pike  county,  a  Confederate  force  under  John 
S.  Williams  was  dispersed  by  some  Union  troops  under  General 
William  Nelson,  early  in  November.  These  successes  inspirited 
the  loyalists  of  East  Tennessee  with  hopes  of  a  speedy  deliverance 
from  their  oppressors;  but  they  were  compelled  to  wait  long  for 
relief,  for  toward  the  close  of  1861  the  Confederates  had  estab 
lished  a  firm  military  foothold  in  Tennessee,  and  occupied  a 
considerable  portion  of  Southern  Kentucky  from  the  Cumberland  HARD  TACK 


GENERAL  T.  R.  ANDERSON,  C.  S.  A. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


211 


2 
H 


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U 

B 
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H 

z 

O 
B 


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o 

w 
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O 
d 
•a. 


212 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


They  also  occupied 


knew  very  little  of  his 


GEN.  AND  MRS.  GEO.  B.  MCCLELLAN 


Mountains  to  the  Mississippi  River,  along  a  line  about  four  hundred  miles  in  length. 
a  greater  portion  of  Missouri,  south  of  the  Missouri  River. 

Fremont  was  censured  for  his  failure  to  reinforce  Mulligan.  The  public 
embarrassments  at  that  time.  Pressing  demands  came  for  reinforce 
ments,  from  General  Grant  at  Paducah.  Cries  for  help  were  heard  at 
various  points  in  his  department ;  and  a  peremptory  order  was  received 
from  General  Scott  to  forward  five  thousand  troops  immediately  to 
Washington  city,  notwithstanding  McClellan  (who  was  in  chief  command 
there)  had  seventy  thousand  men  within  easy  call.  Fremont's  forces  did 
not,  at  any  time,  number  more  than  fifty-six  thousand,  and  these  were 
scattered  over  his  department.  Chafing  under  unjust  complaints,  he 
proceeded  to  put  his  plan  for  ridding  the  Mississippi  Valley  of  Confed 
erate  troops  into  operation  at  once.  On  the  2yth  of  September,  he  put 
more  than  twenty  thousand  soldiers  (five  thousand  of  them  cavalry)  in 
motion  under  the  respective  commands  of  Generals  Hunter,  Pope,  Sigel, 
McKinstry  and  Asboth,  accompanied  by  eighty-six  heavy  guns.  These 
five  columns  were  moving  southward  early  in  October;  and  on  the  nth, 
when  his  army  was  thirty  thousand  strong,  Fremont  wrote  to  his  Govern 
ment:  "My  plan  is  New  Orleans  straight;  I  would  precipitate  the  war 
forward,  and  end  it  soon  and  victoriously." 

Fremont  felt  confident  of  success.  His  army  were  in  high  spirits, 
and  small  victories  were  won  by  his  detachments  in  various  places.  He 
had  strengthened  the  forces  in  Eastern  Missouri,  so  that  St.  Louis  was 
safe;  and  General  Hardee  at  Greenville,  and  General  Pillow  near  New 
Madrid,  dared  not  advance.  He  knew  the  bitterness  of  his  political 
enemies,  and  the  jealousies  of  envious  men;  and  he  was  in  continual  expectation  of  interference  with  his 
plans.  That  interference  soon  came.  False  accusers,  public  and  private,  had  such  influence  in  the 
military  councils  at  Washington  that,  just  after  his  superb  body-guard  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  cavalry, 
led  by  Zagonyi,  a  Hungarian,  had  charged  upon  and  routed  about  two  thousand  Confederates,  foot  and 
horse,  at  Springfield,  Fremont  received  an  order  from  General  Scott,  directing  him  to  turn  over  his  com 
mand  to  General  Hunter,  then  some  distance  in  the  rear.  Hunter  arrived  just  as  the  troops  were  about  to 
attack  Price.  He  countermanded  Fremont's  orders  for  battle;  and  nine  days  afterward  General  H.  W. 
Halleck  was  placed  in  command  of  the  Department  of  Missouri.  The  disappointed  and  disheartened 
army  were  turned  back,  and  made  a  retrograde  march  to  St.  Louis  in  sullen  sadness.  Fremont  was 
afterward  presented  with  an  elegant  sword,  inscribed:  "To  the  Path-finder,  by  the  Men  of  the  West." 

Just  before  he  was  deprived  of  his  command,  Fremont  ordered  General  Grant  to  move  a  co-operative 
force  along  the  line  of  the  Mississippi  River.     It  was  promptly  done.     A  column,  about  three  thousand 

strong,  and  composed  chiefly  of  Illinois  volunteers,  under 
General  John  A.  McClernand,  went  down  from  Cairo  in 
transports  and  the  wooden  gunboats  Tyler  and  Lexington 
to  menace  Columbus  by  attacking  the  post  at  Belmont 
opposite;  and  at  the  same  time  another  column,  under 
General  C.  F.  Smith,  marched  from  Paducah  to  menace 
Columbus  in  the  rear.  Grant  accompanied  McClernand 's 
column.  The  troops  were  landed  on  the  riorning  of  No 
vember  7th,  three  miles  above  Belmont,  and  pushed  on  for 
that  post,  while  the  gunboats  opened  fire  upon  Columbus. 
General  Polk,  still  in  command  there,  acted  with  vigor 
and  promptness.  He  sent  Pillow  across  the  river  with 
troops  to  reinforce  the  garrison  at  Belmont.  In  a  sharp 
battle  that  ensued,  the  Nationals  won  the  victory,  but, 
exposed  to  a  sharp  fire  of  artillery  on  the  bluff  at  Columbus 
that  position  was  untenable;  so,  giving  three  cheers  for 
the  Union,  they  set  fire  to  the  Confederate  camp,  and 
withdrew  with  captured  men,  horses,  and  artillery.  But  Polk  determined  not  to  let  the  victors  escape.  He 
opened  seven  of  his  heaviest  guns  upon  them,  and  at  the  same  time  sent  over  fresh  troops  under  General 
Cheatham,  and  crossed  over  himself  with  two  regiments,  making  the  whole  Confederate  force  about  five 


BULL  RUN 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


213 


DECK  OF  MONITOR  AND  GROUP  OF  OFFICERS 


GROUP    OF    TTNIDF.XTIFIKD    OFFICERS 


214 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


thousand.  There  was  a  desperate  struggle;  hut  Grant  fought  his  way  back  to  his  transports,  and  escaped 
under  cover  of  a  fire  from  the  gunboats.  These  were  admirably  handled  in  the  engagement  respectively 
by  Commanders  Walke  and  Stemble.  The  Nationals  lost  about  five  hundred  men,  and  the  Confederates 
over  six  hundred. 

We  have  observed  that  the  Confederates,  though  defeated  in  Western  Virginia  in  the  summer  of 
1 86 1,  resolved  not  to  relin 
quish  possession  of  that 
granary  without  another 
struggle.  It  occurred  in  the 
autumn  of  that  year.  The 

troops  left  by  Garnett  and       /  A  ^f^~- 

Pegram  were  placed  in 
charge  of  General  Robert  E. 
Lee,  and  early  in  August  he 
was  at  the  head  of  about 
sixteen  thousand  fighting 
men.  John  B.  Floyd,  the 
late  Secretary  of  War,  was 
sent  with  some  troops  to 
reinforce  those  under  Gen 
eral  Wise,  and  to  take  the 
chief  command  in  the  region 
of  the  Gauly  River.  Lee 
made  his  headquarters  at 
Huntersville,  in  Pocahontas 
county,  and  he  placed  a 
strong  guard  on  Buffalo 
Mountain,  at  the  crossing  of 
the  Staunton  turnpike. 
Much  was  expected  from 
Floyd,  for  he  promised 
much.  It  was  expected  that  he  would  move  swiftly  down  the  Kanawha  Valley,  and  drive  General  Cox 
across  the  Ohio  River;  while  Lee  should  disperse  the  army  of  ten  thousand  men  under  Rosecrans, 
McClellan's  successor,  at  Clarksburg,  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  and  so  open  a  way  for  an 
invading  force  of  Confederates  into  the  States  of  Maryland,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio.  Floyd  made  his 
headquarters  a  few  miles  from  Summerville. 

Early  in  September,  Rosecrans  marched  southward  in  search  of  Floyd.  He  scaled  the  Gauly  Moun 
tains  with  great  difficulty,  and  on  the  loth  found  his  foe  at  Carnifex  Ferry  on  the  Gauly  River.  Rosecrans 
fell  upon  the  Ex-Secretary  furiously,  and  for  three  hours  they  fought  desperately.  The  contest  ceased  at 
twilight ;  and  during  the  night  Floyd  stole  away  under  cover  of  darkness,  and  did  not  halt  until  he  reached 
the  summit  of  Big  Sewell  Mountain,  thirty  miles  distant.  Meanwhile  the  Nationals  under  General  J.  J. 
Reynolds,  whom  Rosecrans  had  left  to  confront  Lee  in  the  Cheat  Mountain  region,  were  watching  the 
roads  and  passes  of  the  more  westerly  of  the  Alleghany  range  of  hills.  They  observed  that  Lee's  scouts 
were  very  active,  and  that  he  was  evidently  preparing  to  strike  a  blow  somewhere.  Finally  the  object 
of  his  movements  was  made  clear,  which  was  to  attack  the  Nationals  at  Elkwater,  and  the  outpost  of 
Indiana  troops  on  the  summit  of  Cheat  Mountain,  so  as  to  secure  the  Pass  and  have  a  free  communication 
with  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  at  Staunton.  For  that  object  Lee  marched  from  Huntersville  on  the  night 
of  the  i  ith  of  September,  with  nine  thousand  men  and  nearly  a  dozen  pieces  of  artillery,  to  strike  the  post 
at  Elkwater,  the  Summit  and  the  Pass  at  the  same  moment.  A  storm  was  sweeping  over  the  mountains 
and  favored  the  enterprise.  But  it  was  unsuccessful.  Lee  was  repulsed  at  Elkwater  and  the  Summit, 
when  he  withdrew  and  joined  Floyd  on  Big  Sewell  Mountain  between  the  forks  of  the  Kanawha.  Their 
combined  forces  numbered  about  twenty  thousand  men,  and  they  were  there  confronted  by  about  ten 
thousand  Nationals  under  Rosecrans,  assisted  by  Generals  Cox,  Schenck,  and  Benham. 

Very  soon  afterward,  General  Lee,  whose  campaign  had  been  a  failure,  was  recalled  and  sent  to 
Georgia.  He  was  succeeded  by  Floyd.  The  incompetent  Wise  was  also  recalled.  Floyd,  as  chief 
commander  in  Western  Virginia,  took  post  on  New  River,  from  which  he  was  driven  by  Rosecrans  on  the 
1 2th  of  November,  and  was  pursued  about  fifty  miles.  Then  he  retired  from  the  army,  but  reappeared 


GENERAL  \V.  S.  HARNEY  GENERAL  C.  P.  STONE 

GENERAL  C.  W.  STANFORD  GENERAL  \V.  S.  MORRIS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


215 


c 
> 


.......ilniiiii!! !  Hi 


216 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


in  command  at  Fort  Donelson  not  long  afterward.  Vigorous  movements  made  by  Generals  Kelly  and 
Milroy,  toward  the  close  of  the  year,  were  successful  in  dispersing  the  Confederate  troops  in  Northwestern 
Virginia.  A  successful  expedition  sent  against  a  Confederate  post  at  Huntersville  (Lee's  old  quarters)  by 
Milroy  closed  the  campaign  of  1861,  in  that  region,  and  armed  rebellion  was  effectually  crushed  in  West 
Virginia. 

In  the  summer  of  1861,  the  Confederates  built  two  forts  on  Hatteras  Island,  off  the  coast  of  North 
Carolina,  which  guarded  the  entrance  to  Hatteras  Inlet,  through  which  the  British  blockade  runners  had 
begun  to  carry  in  supplies  to  the  insurgents.  General  B.  F.  Butler,  then  in  command  at  Fortress  Monroe, 
proposed  the  sending  of  a  land  and  naval  force  against  these  forts.  It  was  undertaken  late  in  August; 
and  when,  toward  the  close  of  summer  (just  after  the  village  of  Hampton  had  been  laid  in  ashes  by  Virginia 
troops  under  Magruder),  Butler  was  succeeded  in  command  at  Fortress  Monroe  by  the  veteran  General 

John  E.  Wool,  the  former  volunteered  to  com 
mand  the  land  forces  for  the  purpose.  An 
expedition,  composed  of  eight  transports  and 
war-ships  under  Commodore  Stringham, bear 
ing  almost  nine  hundred  land  troops  com 
manded  by  Butler,  left  Hampton  Roads  for 
Hatteras  Inlet  on  the  26th  of  August,  and  on 
the  morning  of  the  28th  the  vessels  of  war 
opened  fire  upon  the  forts  (Hatteras  and 
Clarke)  and  some  of  the  troops  were  landed. 
An  assault  by  both  arms  of  the  service  was 
kept  up  until  the  29th,  wrhen  the  forts  were 
surrendered,  and  the  expedition  returned  to 

Hampton  Roads, 
leaving  a  portion 
of  Colonel  Hawk 
ins's  New  York 
Zouaves,  with  their 
commander,  to 
post.  During  the 
aide-de-camp  to 
formed  a  gallant 
forts  (Clarke)  was 
ashore,  through 
orders  for  Colonel 
island.  Fiske  en- 
fort,  and  found 
taining  valuable 
formed  into  a  pack- 


garrison  the  captured 
siege,  Mr.  Fiske,  acting 
General  Butler,  per- 
deed.  When  one  of  the 
abandoned,  he  swam 
heavy  breakers,  with 
Weber,  who  was  on  the 
tered  the  evacuated 
books  and  papers  con- 
information.  These  he 
age,  strapped  it  high 
and  swam  back  with 
The  information  they 
assailants  great  ad  van - 


'THEY  DIED  THAT  THE  UNION  MIGHT  LIVE" 


upon  his  shoulders, 
them  to  the  ship, 
contained  gave  the 
tages. 

The  victory  at  Hatteras  finally  led  to  important  results,  as  we  shall  perceive  hereafter.  The  politicians 
of  North  Carolina  had  annexed  that  State  to  the  Confederacy.  A  conciliatory  address  to  the  inhabitants, 
issued  by  Colonel  Hawkins,  led  to  a  Convention  on  the  Eastern  Shore,  which,  on  the  i6th  of  November, 
1 86 1,  adopted  a  declaration  of  independence  of  the  Confederacy.  It  promised  so  much  good  that 
President  Lincoln  authorized  the  election  of  a  Congressman  from  that  district.  But  the  heel  of  despotic 
power  soon  crushed  this  germ  of  active  loyalty  among  four  thousand  inhabitants,  and  it  almost  disappeared 
for  a  time. 

We  have  observed  that  Fort  Pickens,  on  Santa  Rosa  Island  off  the  harbor  of  Pensacola,  was  saved 
from  the  insurgents  early  in  1 86 1 ,  by  the  vigilance  and  bravery  of  Lieutenant  Slemmer.  He  was  furloughed 
for  rest,  and  Colonel  Harvey  Brown  took  his  place.  The  garrison  was  reinforced  from  time  to  time.  In 
June,  Wilson's  Zouaves  from  New  York  arrived  on  Santa  Rosa  Island  to  assist  in  the  defence  of  the  fort, 
which  the  Confederates  ardently  coveted.  The  latter  had  gathered  in  large  numbers  on  the  main;  and 
in  October  they  attempted  to  surprise  and  capture  Wilson's  troops,  on  a  dark  night,  landing  and  rushing 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


217 


IEVY  FROM 

Cox's  LANDING. 


OP  FORTIFICATIONS 


BATTERY  No.  4  IN  FRONT  OF  YOHKTOWN 


218 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


upon  their  camp  with  the  cry  of  "Death  to  Wilson!  No  quarter!"  The  Zouaves  fought  desperately  in 
the  gloom,  and,  with  the  aid  of  men  from  the  fort,  drove  the  assailants  to  their  boats.  The  Confederates 
lost  one  hundred  and  fifty  men;  the  Nationals,  sixty-four.  Wilson's  camp  was  burned  by  the  enemy, 
and  that  was  the  most  that  the  assailants  achieved. 

These  events  were  followed,  late  in  November,  by  a  severe  cannonade  and  bombardment  of  the 
Confederate  works  on  the  main,  by  Fort  Pickens  and  war-vessels.  There  were  seven  thousand  men  under 
General  Braxton  Bragg,  encamped  behind  these  works  and  in  a  curved  line  from  the  Navy-yard  to  Fort 
McRee,  a  distance  of  about  four  miles.  The  works  consisted  of  forts  and  batteries.  In  the  course  of 
forty-eight  hours  after  the  bombardment  was  begun,  most  of  the  heavy  guns  of  the  Confederates  were 


silenced,  and  a  greater  por- 
the  villages  of  Wolcott  and 
laid  in  ashes  by  shells  from 
for  a  few  weeks,  quiet  pre- 
when  it  was  broken  by  an- 
ist  of  January,  1862.  It 
but  with  very  little  damage 
Meanwhile  a  speck  of 
Southwest  Pass  at  the 
River.  Captain  J.  S.  Hol- 
who  had  deserted  his  flag, 
Confederate  "ram"  -  an 
sharp  and  heavy  iron  beak 
the  sides  of  wooden  vessels. 
With  this  formidable  mon- 
very  mischievous  in  com- 
tacked  the  National  block- 
tain  Pope;  but  he  was  soon 


SUDLEY'S  FORD,  BULL  RUN 


tion  of  the  Navy-yard,  and 
Warrington  adjoining,  were 
Fort  Pickens.  After  that, 
vailed  in  Pensacola  Bay, 
other  artillery  duel  on  the 
lasted  about  twelve  hours, 
to  either  party. 
war  had  appeared  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
lins  of  the  National  navy, 
was  in  command  there  of  a 
iron-clad  gunboat  with  a 
to  crush  or  punch  holes  in 
It  was  called  Manassas. 
ster,  which  might  have  been 
petent  hands,  Hollins  at- 
ading  squadron  under  Cap- 
driven  up  the  river  to  Fort 


Jackson,  after  doing  slight  damage  to  one  or  two  of  the  vessels  of  the  National  Navy. 

Late  in  the  same  month  (October,  1861),  another  more  formidable  land  and  naval  armament  left 
Hampton  Roads  for  a  destination  unknown  to  all  but  the  chief  commander.  It  was  composed  of  fifty 
war-ships  and  transports  commanded  by  Admiral  S.  F.  Dupont,  and  fifteen  thousand  land  troops  under 
General  W.  T.  Sherman.  Dupont's  flag-ship,  the  Wabash,  led  the  way  out  to  sea,  and  each  ship  sailed 
under  sealed  orders  to  be  opened  in  case  of  the  dispersion  of  the  fleet.  A  terrible  tempest  smote  them 
off  Cape  Hatteras,  and  very  soon  only  one  vessel  could  be  seen  from  the  deck  of  the  flag-ship.  The 
sealed  orders  were  opened,  by  which  each  commander  was  directed  to  rendezvous  at  Port  Royal  entrance, 
on  the  coast  of  South  Carolina.  There  all  but  four  transports,  which  were  lost,  were  gathered  around 
the  Wabash  on  the  evening  of  the  4th  of  November.  Fortunately  no  human  life  perished  with  the 
transports  lost. 

The  entrance  to  Port  Royal  Sound  is  between  Hilton  Head  and  Phillips's  Island,  and  was  guarded 
by  a  battery  on  each,  erected  by  the  Confederates.  Within  the  Sound  was  a  small  flotilla  of  armed 
vessels  commanded  by  the  veteran  Commodore  Tattnall,  late  of  the  United  States  navy,  who  had  espoused 
the  Confederate  cause.  On  the  morning  of  the  yth  of  November,  Dupont's  ships  attacked  the  guarding 
forts,  the  guns  of  which  were  soon  silenced,  when  the  fleet  moved  into  the  Sound  and  drove  Tattnall's 
vessels  into  shallow  water.  The  National  forces  took  possession  of  Port  Royal  Island  and  the  neighboring 
ones,  and  found  them  deserted  by  the  planters  and  their  families.  Most  of  the  slaves  remained.  They 
had  refused  to  follow  their  masters,  who  tried  to  frighten  them  by  horrible  stories  about  the  people  of 
the  North — the  "Yankees" — who,  they  told  them,  were  coming  to  steal  and  sell  the  negroes  in  Cuba,  or 
to  kill  them  and  bury  them  in  the  sand.  The  colored  people  did  not  believe  these  tales;  and  when  the 
National  ships  approached,  and  the  masters  and  mistresses  of  the  slaves  fled  in  terror,  these  simple  people 
— men,  women,  and  children — stood  in  groups  on  the  sea-shore,  with  little  bundles  of  clothing  in  their 
hands,  desiring  to  go  on  board. 

The  last  efforts  of  the  Confederates  to  defend  the  Sea  Islands  below  Charleston,  where  the  most 
valuable  cotton  was  raised,  was  made  at  Port  Royal  Ferry,  between  Port  Royal  Island  and  the  main,  on 
the  ist  of  January,  1862.  After  a  severe  conflict  the  Confederates  were  defeated  and  dispersed.  Dupont, 
in  the  meantime,  had  taken  possession  of  Big  Tybee  Island,  near  Fort  Pulaski,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Savannah  River;  and  before  the  close  of  1861,  the  National  authority  was  supreme  over  the  coast  islands 
from  Warsaw  Sound  to  the  mouth  of  the  North  Edisto  River.  A  fleet  of  twenty  old  wooden  ships, 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


219 


FORTIFICATIONS  AND  BATTERIES 


±20 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


chiefly  whalers,  heavily  laden  with  rough  blocks  of  granite,  which  had  been  sent  from  New  England  to 
be  sunk  in  the  four  channels  of  the  entrance  to  Charleston  harbor,  and  so  assist  in  the  blockade  services, 
arrived  at  their  destination  at  about  this  time.  It  was  when  this  "stone  fleet"  approached,  that  a  fire 
which  laid  a  large  portion  of  Charleston  in  ashes  (an  event  already  mentioned)  was  raging.  Quicksands 

swallowed  the  "stone  fleet,"  and  its  ser-     vices  were  of 

very  little  account. 

We  have  seen  that  General  McClellan 
from  Western  Virginia  to  take  charge  of  the 
Potomac,  as  the  forces  around  Washington 
after  the  battle  of  Bull  Run.    He  assumed 
the  2  yth  of  July.    He  brought  to  the  service 
spotless  moral  character,  robust  health,  a 
retic  military  education  with  some  practical 
untiring  industry,   the  prestige  of  recent 
the   field,    and   the   unlimited   confidence 
people.     He  found  at  his  disposal  about 
sand  infantry,  less  than  one  thousand  cav- 
hundred  and  fifty  artillerymen,  and  thirty 
cannon.     He  was  very  popu- 
called  a  ' '  Young  Napoleon ; ' ' 
the  ist  of  November,  1861, 
Scott  resigned  his  place  as 
armies,    McClellan   was   ap- 
The    act    was    hailed    as    a 
nation  of  the  conflict,  for  he 
be  "short,  sharp,    and  deci- 


ganized  the  army  which  had 
ble  blow  of  Bull  Run;  and  it 
mond,  which  had  become  the 
be  in  the  possession  of  the 
close  of  September.  But 

The  Con- 
Johnston  re- 
nassas,  and 
for  want  of 
the  National 
at  the  rate  of 
ing  free-la- 
tions  of  war. 
National  for- 
Washington, 
and  while 
see  a  forward 
raised  and 
mond!"  the 
m  e  n  t ,  re- 
circumspect 
two  princi- 
other,  the 


BATTLEFIELD,  TIIOHHURN'S  HOUSE  AND  MATTHEW; 
Hoi  WE  AT  BVLL  RUN 


was  called 
army  of  the 
were  called 
command  on 
youth,  a 
sound  theo- 
experience, 
success  in 
of  the  loyal 
fifty  thou- 
airy,  six 
pieces  of 
lar,  and  was 
and  when  on 
General 

General-in-Chief  of  the 
pointed  to  fill  that  office, 
promise  of  a  speedy  termi- 
had  said  that  the  war  should 
sive."  He  thoroughly  reor- 
been  shattered  by  the  terri- 
was  believed  that  Rich- 
Confederate  capital,  would 
National  troops  before  the 
such  was  not  to  be. 
federates  under  General 
mained  encamped  at  Ma- 
were  compelled  to  be  idle 
cavalry  and  adequate  subsistence;  while 
army  was  hourly  increasing  in  strength 
two  thousand  men  a  day  from  the  teem- 
bor  States,  with  ample  supplies  of  muni- 
Beauregard  urged  Johnston  to  attack  the 
tifications  which  were  rising  around 
but  the  wise  leader  prudently  refused; 
the  hearts  of  the  loyal  people  yearned  to 
movement,  and  some  of  the  newspapers 
prolonged  the  insane  cry  of  "On  to  Rich- 
civil  and  military  leaders  of  the  Govern- 
membering  the  disaster  at  Bull  Run,  were 
and  cautious.  For  several  months  these 
pal  armies  lay  within  thirty  miles  of  each 
quiet  of  camp  life  broken  only  by  an 
Confederates  reconnoitering,  sometimes 


occasional  skirmish  or  midnight  alarm.  Detachments  of 
approached  within  a  few  miles  of  Washington;  and  they  held  possession  of  Munson's  Hill,  within  six 
miles  of  the  dome  of  the  Capitol,  as  the  bird  flies.  They  also  kept  up  the  blockade  of  the  Potomac 
River  by  batteries  on  the  Virginia  shore,  already  alluded  to — a  state  of  things  not  only  perilous  to  the 
capital  and  the  army  that  surrounded  it,  but  exceedingly  disgraceful  to  that  great  army.  So  felt  the 
Government,  and  in  September  it  was  resolved  to  remove  these  obstructions. 

McClellan  was  ordered  to  co-operate  with  the  naval  force  on  the  river,  in  the  necessary  business; 
but  his  unfortunate  habit  of  procrastination  paralyzed  the  efforts  of  the  naval  commanders,   and  the 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


221 


SCKNES  ON  HULL  RUN 


222 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


blockade  was  kept  up  until  the  Confederates  voluntarily  abandoned  their  position  in  front  of  Washington, 
in  the  spring  of  1862. 

When  the  Government  ordered  the  removal  of  the  blockade  of  the  Potomac,  the  National  troops 
began  to  push  back  the  Confederate  advance  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the  river.  Late  in  September  the 
latter  retired  from  Munson's  Hill;  and  struggles  for  the  possession  of  the  Upper  Potomac  occurred  at 
Lewinsville  in  Virginia,  and  Darnestown  in  Maryland.  In  these  struggles  the  Nationals  won  the  victory; 
and  by  the  middle  of  October  (1861)  they  occupied  a  line  from  Fairfax  Court-House  well  up  toward 
Leesburg,  and  the  most  advanced  outpost  of  the  Confederates  was  at  or  near  Centreville.  Meanwhile 


some  National  troops 
mac  at  Harper's  Ferry 
when  they  were  men- 
Confederates.  Colonel 
Geary  went  over  with 
invaders,  and  on  the 
he  had  a  severe  engage- 
gents,  and  repulsed 
Nationals  recrossed  the 
This  event  was  soon 
portant  one  at  Ball's 
tomac.  The  left  wing  of 
was  commanded  by 
Evans.  It  lay  at  Lees- 
by  a  National 
Charles  P. 
between  Con- 


fronted 
General 
camped 
ferries. 


DR.  LETTERMAN,   MEDICAL  DIRECTOK  AND  OTHER  OFFICER 


had  crossed  the  Poto- 
to  seize  some  wheat, 
aced  by  a  large  body  of 
(afterward  General) 
reinforcements  for  the 
hills  back  of  the  village 
ment  with  the  insur- 
them.  Then  all  the 
river  with  their  spoils. 
followed  by  a  more  im- 
Bluff  on  the  Upper  Po- 
the  Confederate  army 
General  (late  Colonel) 
burg,  and  was  con- 
force,  commanded  by 
Stone,  who  were  en- 
rad's  and  Edwards's 


His  headquarters  were  "at  Poolesville.  Misinformation  had  caused  a  belief  that  the  Confederates 
had  left  Leesburg  at  a  little  past  the  middle  of  October,  when  McClellan  ordered  General  McCall,  who 
commanded  the  advance  of  the  right  of  the  National  forces  in  Virginia,  to  move  forward  and  occupy 
Drainsville.  At  the  same  time  he  ordered  General  Stone  to  co-operate  with  General  McCall,  which  he 
did  by  making  a  feint  of  crossing  the  river  at  the  two  ferries  above  named,  on  the  afternoon  of  Sunday 
the  2oth  of  October.  At  the  same  time  a  part  of  a  Massachusetts  regiment,  under  Colonel  Devens,  was 
ordered  to  take  post  on  Harrison's  Island  in  the  Potomac,  abreast  of  Ball's  Bluff.  Devens  went  with 
four  companies  in  flat-boats  taken  from  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal.  Three  thousand  men  com 
manded  by  Colonel  E.  D.  Baker,  a  member  of  the  National  Senate,  acting  as  a  brigadier,  were  held  in 
readiness  as  a  reserve,  in  the  event  of  a  battle. 

These  movements  of  the  Nationals  caused  an  opposing  one  on  the  part  of  the  Confederates,  who 
had  watched  their  antagonists  with  keen  vigilance,  at  a  point  of  concealment  not  far  off.  Misinformed 
as  to  the  position  of  the  insurgents,  and  supposing  McCall  to  be  near  enough  to  give  aid,  if  necessary, 
Stone,  on  the  morning  of  the  2ist,  ordered  some  Massachusetts  troops  under  Colonels  Lee  and  Devens, 
to  cross  to  the  Virginia  main,  from  Harrison's  Island,  to  reconnoitre.  They  did  not  find  the  foe  in  the 
neighborhood.  But  Evans,  unperceived,  lay  near  with  a  strong  force;  and  when  the  detachment  fell 
back  to  the  vicinity  of  Ball's  Bluff,  he  attacked  them.  It  was  at  a  little  past  noon.  Colonel  Baker  had 
been  sent  to  Harrison's  Island,  with  his  reserves,  invested  with  discretionary  power  to  withdraw  or 
reinforce  the  other  troops.  He  concluded  to  go  forward,  supposing  the  forces  of  McCall  and  others  to 
be  near;  and  on  reaching  the  field  he  took  the  chief  command  by  virtue  of  his  rank.  Very  soon  afterward 
he  was  instantly  killed  by  a  bullet  that  pierced  his  brain.  His  troops,  unsupported  by  others,  were 
crushed  by  a  superior  force.  Pressed  back  to  the  verge  of  the  bluff  and  down  the  declivity,  they  fought 
desperately  for  a  while  at  twilight,  for  they  had  no  means  for  transportation  across  the  swollen  flood. 
They  were  soon  overpowered.  A  large  number  of  the  Nationals  were  made  prisoners,  and  many  perished 
in  trying  to  escape  by  swimming  in  the  dark.  Some  were  shot  in  the  water,  and  others  were  drowned. 
A  large  flat-boat,  overloaded  with  the  wounded  and  others,  was  riddled  by  bullets,  and  sank.  In  this 
affair,  the  Nationals  lost  full  one  thousand  men  and  two  pieces  of  artillery.  The  loss  of  Colonel  Baker 
was  irreparable.  He  was  a  genuine  patriot,  an  acute  statesman,  and  eloquent  orator.  His  death  caused 
sadness  wherever  his  worth  was  appreciated. 


A    PUS  TORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


223 


224 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHRONOLOGICAL  SUMMARY  AND  RECORD— Continued 


DECEMBER,  1862 — Continued  from   Section   0. 

Parker's  Cross  Roads  or  Red  Mound,  Tenn.  18th,  100th,  110th  and 
122d  111.,  27th,  3'Jth  and  03d  Ohio.  50th  Ind.,  39th  Iowa,  7th  Tenn., 
7th  Wis.  Battery.  L'nion  23  killed,  139  wounded,  5S  missing.  Con- 
fed.  50  killed,  150  wounded,  300  missing. 

31  to  Jan.  2 — Murfreesboro'  or  Stone  River,  Tenn.  Army  of  the  Cumber 
land,  Maj.Gen.  Rosecrans.  Right  Wing,  McCook's  Corps;  Center, 
Thomas's  Corps;  Left  Wing,  Crittenden's  Corps.  Union  1.533  killed, 
7,245  wounded.  2. SIX)  missing.  Confed.  14.500  killed,  wounded  and 
missing.  Union  Brig. -Gen.  Sill  killed  and  Kirk  wounded.  Confed, 
Brig.-dens.  Raines  and  Hanson  killed  and  Chalmers  and  Davis 
wounded. 

JANUARY,  1863 

1— Galvestpn,  Tex.  Three  Cos.  42d  Mass.,  U.  S.  Gunboats  Wrslfield, 
Harriet  Lane,  Owasco,  Sachem,  Clifton,  and  Corvplicciis.  Union  (100 
killed,  wounded  and  missing.  Confed.  50  killed  and  wounded. 
7  and  8 — Springfield,  Mo.  Mo.  Militia,  convalescents  and  citizens.  Union 
14  killed,  144  wounded.  Confed.  40  killed,  200  wounded  and  missing. 
Union  Brig. -Gen.  Brown  wounded. 

11 — Fort  Hindman,  Ark.  Thirteenth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  McClernand; 
Fifteenth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Sherman  and  gunboats  Mississippi 
squadron.  Union  129  killed,  831  wounded.  Confed.  100  killed.  400 
wounded,  5,000  prisoners. 

Hartsville  or  Wood's  Fork,  Mo.  21st  Iowa,  99th  111.,  3d  Iowa  Cav..  3d 
Mo.  Cav.,  Battery  L  2d  Mo.  Artil.  Union  7  killed,  04  wounded. 
Confed.  Brig. -Gen.  McDonald  killed. 

1* — Bayou  Teche,  La.  8th  Vt.,  10th  and  75th  X.  Y..  19th  Conn.,  Oth  Mich., 
21st  Ind.,  1st  La.  Cav.,  4th  and  Oth  Mass.  Battery,  1st  Maine  Battery, 
and  U.  S.  Gunboats  Cdlhoun,  Diana,  Kinsman  and  Eslrella.  Union 
10  killed.  27  wounded.  Confed.  15  killed.  Union  Commodore 
Buchanan  killed.  Confed.  Gunboat  Cotton  destroyed. 

34 — Woodbury,  Tenn.  Second  Division  Crittenden's  Corps.  Union  2 
killed,  1  wounded.  Confed.  35  killed,  100  missing. 

SO — Deserted  House  or  Kelly's  Store,  near  Suffolk,  Va.  Portion  of  Maj.-Gen. 
Peck's  forces.  Union  24  killed,  80  wounded.  Confed.  50  wounded. 

SI — Rover.  Tenn.  4th  Ohio  Cav.  Confed.  12  killed,  12  wounded,  300 
captured. 

FEBRUARY,  1863 

3 — Fort   Donelson  or  Cumberland   Iron   Works,   Tenn.     83d   111..   2d   111. 
Artil.,  one  battalion  5th  Iowa  Cav.      Union  10  killed.  00  wounded    50 
missing.     Confed.  140  killed,  400  wounded,  130  missing. 
1* — Brentsville,  Va.     1st  Mich.  Cav.      Union  15  wounded. 

16 — Near  Romney,  W.  Va.  Detachments  116th  and  122d  Ohio.  Union  72 
wounded  and  captured. 

21 — Prairie  Station,  Miss.     2d  Iowa  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  3  wounded. 
24 — Mississippi  River  below  Vicksburg.     U.  S.  Gunboat  Indianola.      Union 
1  killed,  1  wounded.     Confed.  35  killed. 

MARCH,  1863 

1 — Bradyville,  Tenn.  3d  and  4th  Ohio  Cav.,  1st  Tenn.  Cav.  Union  1 
killed,  0  wounded.  Confed.  5  killed,  27  wounded,  100  captured. 

4 — Skeet,  X.  C.  3d  X.  Y.  Cav.  Union  3  killed,  15  wounded.  Confed.  28 
wounded. 


8 — Fairfax  C.  H.,  Va.  Brig.-Gen.  Stoughton  and  thirty-three  men  cap 
tured  by  Mosby  in  his  midnight  raid. 

10 — Covington,  Tenn.     Oth  and  7th  111.  Cav.     Confed.  25  killed. 

13  to  April  5 — Fort  Pemberton,  Miss.  Thirteenth  Corps,  Brig.-Gen  Ross- 
Seventeenth  Corps,  Brig.-Gen.  Quimby.  U.  S.  Gunboats  Chillicolhf 
and  DeKalb.  Casualties  not  recorded. 

1* — P°rt  Hudson,  La.  Maj.-Gen.  Banks'  troops  and  Admiral  Farragut's 
fleet.  Union  05  wounded. 

16  to  22— Expedition  up  Steele's  Bayou  and  at  Deer  Creek.  Miss  2d 
Division  Fifteenth  Corps,  Mai. -Gen.  Sherman,  gunboat  fleet.  Admiral 
Porter.  Casualties  not  recorded. 

17— Kelly's  Ford,  Va.      1st  and  5th  U.  S.  Regulars,  3d,  4th  and  10th  Penna 
1st  R.  I..  Oth  Ohio,  4th  X.  Y.  Cav.,  Oth  X.  Y.  Battery.      Union  9 
killed,  3u  wounded.     Confed.  11  killed,  88  wounded. 

20 — Vaught's  Hill,  near  Milton,  Tenn.  105th  Ohio,  101st  Ind  80th  and 
123d  111.,  1st  Tenn.  Cav.,  9th  Ind.  Battery.  Union  7  killed  48 
wounded.  Confed.  03  killed,  300  wounded. 

22 — Mt.  Sterling,  Ky.  10th  Ky.  Cav.  Union  4  killed,  10  wounded  Con- 
fed.  8  killed,  13  wounded. 

24— Danville,  Ky.  18th  and  22d  Mich.,  1st  Ky.  Cav.,  2d  Tenn.  Cav  1st 
Ind.  Battery. 

Ponchatoula,  La.      127th  and  105th  X.  Y.,  9th  Conn.,  14th  and  24th 

Maine,  Oth  Mich.      Union  0  wounded.     Confed.  3  killed,  11  wounded. 
26 — Brentwood.  Tenn.     Detachment  22d  Wis.  and   19th   Mich       Union  1 

killed,  4  wounded,  300  prisoners.     Confed.  1  killed,  5  wounded. 
Franklin  and  Little  Harpeth,  Tenn.     4th  and  Oth  Ky.  Cav    9th  Penna 

Cav.,  2d  Mich.  Cav.      Union  4  killed,  19  wounded",  40  missing. 
28 — Pattersonville,  La.     Gunboat  Diana  with  Detachment  of  12th  Conn. 

and  100th  N.  Y.  on  board.      Union  4  killed,  14  wounded.  99  missing. 
29 — Somerville,  Tenn.     Oth  111.  Cav.      Union  9  killed,  29  wounded. 
30 — button's  Hill  or  Somerset.  Ky.     1st  Ky.  Cav.,  7th  Ohio  Cav..  44th  and 

4.ith  Ohio  Mounted  Vol.      Union  10  killed,  25  wounded.      Confed   290 

killed,  wounded  and  missing. 

Point  Pleasant.  W.  Va.  One  Co.  13th  W.  Va.   Union  1  killed,  3  wounded. 

Confed.  21)  killed,  25  wounded. 

30  to  April  4 — Washington  and  Rodman's  Point,  X.  C.  Maj.-Gen.  Foster's 
command.  Casualties  not  recorded. 


APRIL,  1863 

2  and  3  —  Woodbury  and  Snow  Hill.  Tenn.  3d  and  4th  Ohio  Cav.  Union 
1  killed,  8  wounded.  Confed.  50  killed  and  wounded. 

7  —  Bombardment  Fort  Sumter,  S.  C.  South  Atlantic  squadron;  Krokuk, 
\Veeha-wken,  Passaic,  Montauk,  Patapsco,  New  Ironsides,  Catskill, 
Nanluik't  and  Xahant.  Union  2  killed,  20  wounded.  Confed.  4 
killed,  10  wounded. 

10  —  Franklin  and  Harpeth  River,  Tenn.  40th  Ohio  and  portion  of  Granger's 
Cavalry.  Union  100  killed  and  wounded.  Confed.  19  killed,  35 
wounded,  83  missing. 

Antioch  Station,  Tenn.      Detachment   10th  Mich.      Union  8  killed,  12 

wounded. 

12  to  14  —  Irish  Bend  and  Bisland,  La.,  also  called  Indian  Ridge  and  Centre- 
ville.  Nineteenth  Corps,  Grover's,  Emory's,  Weitzel's  Divisions. 
Union  350  killed,  wounded  and  missing.  Confed.  400  wounded,  2,000 
missing  and  captured. 

12  to  May  4  —  Siege  of  Suffolk,  Va.  Troops,  Army  of  Virginia  and  Depart 
ment  of  Xorth  Carolina.  Union  44  killed,  202  wounded.  Confed. 
500  killed  and  wounded,  400  captured. 

IS—  Dunbar's  Plantation,  La.     2d  111.  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  2  wounded. 

17  to  May  2  —  Grierson's  expedition  from  La  Grange,  Tenn.,  to  Baton  Rouge, 

La.      Oth   and   7th   III.    Cav.,   2d   Iowa   Cav.      Confed.    100  killed   and 
wounded,  500  prisoners. 

18  and  19  —  Hernando  and  Coldwater,  Miss.     Portion  of  Sixteenth  Corps 

detachment  of  Artil.,  2d  Brigade  Cavalry  Division.      Casualties  not 
recorded. 

20  —  Patterson.  Mo.  3d  Mo.  Militia  Cav.  Union  12  killed,  7  wounded,  41 
missing. 

24  —  Tuscumbia,  Ala.     Sixteenth  Corps,  2d  Division.      Maj.-Gen.  Dodge. 
White  Water,  Mo.      1st  Wis.  Cav.      Union  2  killed.  0  wounded. 

2*  —  Cape  Girardeau.  Mo.  32d  Iowa,  1st  Wis.  Cav.,  2d  Mo.  Cav.,  Batteries 
D  and  L  1st  Mo.  Lt.  Artil.  Union  0  killed,  0  wounded.  Confed.  00 
killed,  275  wounded  and  missing. 

27  to  May  3  -Streight's  Raid,  Tuscumbia.  Ala.,  to  Rome,  Ga.,  including 
skirmishes  at  Day's  Gap,  April  30th;  Black  Warrior  Creek  May  1st 
and  Blount's  Farm,  May  2d.  3d  Ohio,  51st  and  73d  Ind.,  SOth  111., 
Mounted  Inft.,  two  Cos.  1st  Ala.  Cav.  Union  12  killed,  09  wounded. 
1,400  missing  and  captured. 

27  to  May  8  —  Stoneman's  Cavalry  Raid  in  Virginia. 

29  Fairmount,  W.  Va.      Detachments  100th  X.  Y.,  Oth  W.  Va.  and  Va. 

Militia.      Union  1  killed,  Owounded.     Confed.  100  killed  and  wounded! 
Grand  Gulf,  Miss.     Gunboat  fleet.      Union  20  killed,  54  wounded. 
30—  Spottsylvania    C.    H.,    Va.     Oth    X.    Y.    Ca\>.      Union    58    killed    and 
wounded. 

30  and  May  1—  Chalk  Bluff  and  St.  Francois  River,  Mo.     2d    Mo.  Militia, 

3d  Mo.  Cav.,  1st  Iowa  Cav.,  Battery  E  1st  Mo.  Lt.  Artil.      Union  2 
killed,  1  1  wounded. 

MAY,  1863 

1  —  Port  Gibson,  Miss,  (the  first  engagement  in  Grant's  Campaign  against 
Vicksburg).  Thirteenth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  McClernand,  and  3d 
Division  Seventeenth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  McPherson.  Union  130 
killed,  718  wounded.  Confed.  1,150  killed  and  wounded,  500  missing. 
Confed.  Brig.-Gen.  Tracy  killed. 

1  —  LaGrange,  Ark.     3d  Iowa  Cav.      Union  3  killed,  9  wounded,  30  missing. 
Monticello,  Ky.     2d  Tenn.  Cav..  1st  Ky.  Cav.,  2d  and  7th  Ohio  Cav 

45th  Ohio  and  112th  111.  Mounted  Inft. 

1  to  4  —  Chancellorsville,  Va..  including  battles  of  Sixth  Corps  at  Fredericks- 
burg  and  Salem  Heights.  Army  of  the  Potomac,  Maj.-Gen.  Hooker; 


,  ..  .  ,  ,     , 

wounded.  5.000  missing.  Confed.  1,581  killed,  8,700  wounded,  2,000 
missing.  Union  Maj.-Gen.  Berry  and  Brig.-Gen.  Whipple  killed. 
Devens  and  Kirby  wounded.  Confed.  Brig.-Gen.  Paxton  killed 
Lieut.-Gen.  T.  J.  Jackson,  Maj.-Gen.  A.  P.  Hill.  Brig.  -Gens.  Hoke, 
Xichols,  Ramseur,  McGowan.  Heth,  and  Pender  wounded. 

3  —  Warrenton  Junction,  Va.      1st  W.  Va.  Cav.,  5th  X.  Y.  Cav.      L'nion  1 

killed,  10  wounded.     Confed.  15  wounded. 

4  —  Siege  of  Suffolk,  Va.,  raised.      (See  April  12.) 

11  —  Horse  Shoe  Bend,  Ky.      Detachment  commanded  by  Col.  R.  T.  Jacobs. 

Union  II)  killed,  20  wounded,  40  missing.  Confed.  100  killed,  wounded, 
and  missing. 

12  —  Raymond,   Miss.     Seventeenth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.   McPherson.      Union 

09  killed,  341  wounded.  Confed.  909  killed  and  wounded.  Canted. 
Gen.  Telghman  killed. 

13—  Hall's  Ferry.     2d  111.  Cav.     Confed.  12  killed. 

14—  Jackson,    Miss.     Fifteenth    Corps,    Maj.-Gen.    Sherman;     Seventeenth 

Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  McPherson.  Union  40  killed,  240  wounded. 
Confed.  450  killed  and  wounded. 

16  —  Champian   Hills,    Miss.     Hovey's   Div.   Thirteenth   Corps  and   Seven 

teenth  Corps.  L'nion  420  killed,  1,842  wounded,  189  missing. 
Confed.  2,500  killed  and  wounded,  1,800  missing. 

17  —  Big  Black  River,  Miss.     Carr's  and  Osterhaus's  Divisions.  Thirteenth 

Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  McClernand.  Union  29  killed,  242  wounded. 
Confed.  000  killed  and  wounded,  2,500  captured. 

18  to  July  4—  Siege  of  Vicksburg.     Thirteenth  Corps,  Fifteenth  Corps,  and 

Seventeenth  Corps,  commanded  by  Maj.-Gen.  U.  S.  Grant,  and  gun 
boat  fleet,  commanded  by  Admiral  Porter.  Assault  on  Fort  Hill  on 
May  19th  and  general  assault  on  the  20th,  in  which  Confed.  Brig.  -lien. 
Green  was  killed.  Three  divisions  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps  and  two 
divisions  of  the  Xinth  Corps,  and  Maj.-Gen.  Herron's  Division  were 
then  added  to  the  besieging  forces.  Union  545  killed.  3,  OSS  wounded, 
303  missing.  Confed.  21,277  killed,  wounded,  and  missing. 
20  to  28  —  Clendenin's  raid,  below  Fredericksburg,  Va.  8th  111.  Cav. 
Confed.  100  prisoners. 

(Continued  in   Section   8.) 


I 


BURNSIDE       AT        F  R  E  D  E  R  I  C  K  S  B  U  R  G  ,        DECEMBER        13,'      ,862 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


225 


o 

B 
7. 


7, 

O 


226 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

Inaction  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac — Capture  of  Mason  and  Slidell — Conduct  of  the  British  Government  and  Press — President  Lincoln's 
Wisdom — Release  of  the  Captives — Expedition  to  the  Coast  of  North  Carolina — Capture  of  Roanoke  Island — Proclamation  to  the 
People  of  Eastern  North  Carolina — Department  Commanders  West  of  the  Mississippi — Missouri  Purged  of  Armed  Insurgents — The 
Campaign  in  Missouri — Insurgents  Chased  into  Arkansas  — Battle  of  Pea  Ridge — Military  Operations  in  New  Mexico — Battle  at 
Valverde — Insurgents  Expelled  from  New  Mexico — Civil  and  Military  Transactions  in  Kentucky — Battle  of  Mill  Spring — The  Con 
federate  Line  Across  Kentucky  Broken  and  Shortened — Beauregard  in  the  West. 


F 


OR  the  space  of  almost  two  months  after  the  battle  at  Ball's  Bluff,  the  ears  of  the  loyal  people  were 
vexed  with  the  unsatisfying  announcement  made  every  morning,  "All  is  quiet  along  the  Potomac!" 


and  the  roads  in  Virginia 
dition  for  the  movement  of 
heavy  artillery.  Washing- 
secure,  and  there  was  an 
only  for  its  defence,  but  to 
Richmond.  At  the  close  of 
full  two  hundred  thousand 
tomac,  while  the  Confed- 
were  never  more  than  sixty 
ticians  sneeringly  called  the 
pie  naturally  wondered  how 
large  an  army  of  disciplined 
Napoleon"  who  had  prom- 
"  short,  sharp,  and  deci- 
in  and  near  ,the  National 
tient  because  of  the  delay  in 
ment  of  the  Army  of  the 
sense  of  relief  that  amounted 
Christmas,  the  monotony 
a  fight  at  Drainsville  be- 
tionals  under  Gen.  E.  O.  C. 
Confederate  foragers  led  by 
famous  cavalry  leader.  The 
mentary.  The  Confed- 
conflict,  fled,  and  the  people 
daily  croon — "All  is  quiet 
hearts  were  becoming  sick 
two  events  occurred  which 
ings  of  satisfaction  in  the 
the  capture  of  two  Confed 
erate  embassadors  and  leading  conspirators,  and  the  permanent  lodgement  of  the  National  power  on  the 
coast  of  North  Carolina. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Confederates,  at  an  early  period  in  the  contest,  sent  diplomatic  agents  to 
European  courts.  These  proved  to  be  incompetent,  and  the  Confederate  government  undertook  to  correct 
the  mistake  by  sending  two  of  their  ablest  men  to  represent  their  cause  at  the  courts  of  Great  Britain  and 
France,  respectively.  These  were  James  M.  Mason,  of  Virginia,  author  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act,  and 
John  Slidell,  who  was  deeply  interested  in  the  scheme  for  opening  the  African  slave-trade.  The  embas 
sadors,  each  accompanied  by  a  "secretary  of  legation,"  left  Charleston  harbor  on  a  stormy  night  (the 
1 2th  of  October,  1861),  eluded  the  blockading  squadron,  and  landed  at  Havana,  Cuba,  where  they  were 
cordially  greeted  by  the  British  consul  and  other  sympathizers.  There  they  embarked  for  St.  Thomas, 
in  the  British  mail-steamer  Trent,  intending  to  go  to  England  in  the  regular  packet  from  the  latter  port. 

NOTE — EXPLANATION"  OF  THE  COLORED  FRONTISPIECE  BURNSIDE  AT  FREDERICKSBURG — This  picture  represents  General  Burnside 
standing  near  his  headquarters  on  the  northern  bank  of  the  Rappahannock  River.  General  Hooker  is  expostulating  with  him  against  the  charge  of  Marye's 
Heights,  which  had  been  ordered  by  Burnside.  The  inspiration  of  this  picture  is  well  expressed  by  the  Count  of  Paris  where  he  says:  "The  officers  who 
surrounded  him,  silent  witnesses  of  the  scene  which  they  have  often  related  since,  saw  with  terror  the  unfortunate  Burnside  striding  up  and  down  the  terrace 
from  whence  he  could  survey  the  whole  battlefield.  Pointing  to  the  Heights,  wreathed  with  smoke,  whence  the  Confederate  Artillery  was  battering  his  troops, 
he  repeated  mechanically,  'That  Height  must  be  carried  this  evening.'  Hooker  failed  to  obtain  any  other  reply  to  his  representations,  and  nothing  was  left 
for  him  but  to  obey."  The  result  of  this  fatal  determination  to  carry  the  well-protected  Confederate  position  was  the  terrific  slaughter  that  marks  the  battle 
of  Fredericksburg  as  one  of  the  most  disastrous  to  the  Federal  arms  of  the  entire  war. 


The  autumn  was  dry 
were  never  in  a  better  con- 
troops,  and  particularly  of 
ton  seemed  to  be  perfectly 
ample  supply  of  troops  not 
make  an  easy  conquest  of 
the  year  (1861)  there  were 
men  in  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
erates  that  opposed  them 
thousand  strong.  The  poli- 
latter  a  mob,  and  plain  peo- 
such  a  rabble  could  hold  so 
soldiers,  under  a  "young 
ised  that  the  war  should  be 
sive,"  so  long  and  so  tightly 
capital.  They  were  impa- 
the  promised  forward  move- 
Potomac;  and  there  was  a 
to  joyfulness,  when,  at  near 
was  broken  for  a  moment  by 
tween  the  brigade  of  Na- 
Ord,  and  a  smaller  force  of 
Colonel  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  the 
excitement  was  only  mo- 
erates,  worsted  in  the  sharp 
were  again  teased  with  the 
along  the  Potomac ! ' '  Their 
with  hopes  deferred,  when 
awakened  the  liveliest  feel- 
public  mind.  These  were 


A  WOUNDED  BOY 


Copyright.  1895,  by  CHARLES  F.  JUHNSON.     Copyright,  19U5,  by  LOSSING  HISTORY  COMPANY.     Copyright,  1U12,  by  THE  WAR  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


227 


PRISON  CAMP,  OFFICERS'  QUARTERS,  ELMIRA,  N.  Y. 


-  - —  —  _' 
• 


PRISON  CAMP,  GUARDHOUSE.  ELMIRA,  N.  Y. 


230 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


MAJOR-GENERAL  E.  R.  S.  CANDY 


and  true  to  its  long-cherished  principles,  proceeded  to  disavow  the  act  of  Wilkes  and  to  release  the 
prisoners.     That  act  was  in  violation  of  a  principle  for  the  maintenance  of  which,  as  we  have  seen,  the 

United  States  went  to  war  with  Great  Britain — the  principle  that 
the  flag  of  a  neutral  vessel  is  a  protection  to  all  beneath  it.  A  few- 
hours  after  the  news  of  the  capture  reached  Washington,  the  calm 
and  thoughtful  President  said  to  the  writer :  "I  fear  the  traitors 
will  prove  to  be  white  elephants.  We  must  stick  to  American 
principles  concerning  the  rights  of  neutrals.  We  fought  Great 
Britain,  for  insisting,  by  theory  and  practice,  on  the  right  to  do 
precisely  what  Captain  Wilkes  has  done.  If  Great  Britain  shall 
now  protest  against  the  act,  and  demand  their  release,  we  must 
give  them  up,  apologize  for  the  act  as  a  violation  of  our  doctrine, 
and  thus  forever  bind  her  to  keep  the  peace  in  relation  to  neutrals,  • 
and  so  acknowledge  she  has  been  wrong  for  at  least  sixty  years." 
Under  the  instructions  of  the  President,  the  Secretary  of  State 
(Mr.  Seward)  acted  in  accordance  with  these  utterances.  The 
prisoners  were  released,  and  the  British  people  blushed  for  shame 
because  of  the  impotent  bluster  of  their  government,  when  the 
fact  was  promulgated  by  the  American  minister,  Mr.  Adams. 
Then  the  London  Times,  which  had  called  most  vehemently  for 
war  on  "the  insolent  Republic,"  in  speaking  of  the  demand  of  the 
British  government  for  the  release  of  the  embassadors,  super 
ciliously  declared  that  they  were  "worthless  booty;"  and  added, 
"England  would  have  done  as  much  for  two  negroes."  The 
embassadors  were  treated,  in  England,  with  a  coolness  that 
amounted  to  contempt,  and  they  soon  passed  into  obscurity. 

The  British  government  acted  not  only  unwisely  but  dishon 
orably  in  the  matter.  Lord  John  Russell,  the  Foreign  Secretary, 
wrote  to  Lord  Lyons,  the  British  minister  at  Washington,  to 

demand  from  our  Government  the  liberation  of  the  captives  and  "a  suitable  apology  for  the  aggressions 
which  had  been  committed ; "  and  if  the  demand  should  not  be  speedily  complied  with,  to  leave  Washington, 
with  all  the  members  of  the  legation.  On  the  day  of  the  date  of 
Earl  Russell's  despatch,  Mr.  Seward  wrote  a  confidential  note  to 
Mr.  Adams,  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  Captain  Wilkes  did 
not  act  under  orders  from  his  Government,  and  expressed  a  hope 
that  the  British  government  would  consider  the  subject  in  a 
friendly  manner.  He  gave  Mr.  Adams  permission  to  read  his 
note  to  Lord  Russell  and  the  Prime  Minister.  Mr.  Adams  did  so; 
and  yet  the  British  government,  with  this  voluntary  assurance  that 
a  satisfactory  arrangement  of  the  difficulties  might  be  made,  con 
tinued  its  preparations  for  war  with  vigor,  to  the  alarm  and  dis 
tress  of  the  people.  The  fact  that  such  assurance  had  reached  the 
government  was  not  only  suppressed,  but,  when  rumors  of  it  were 
whispered,  it  was  semi-officially  denied.  And  when  the  fact  could 
no  longer  be  concealed,  it  was,  by  the  same  authority,  affirmed, 
without  a  shadow  of  justice,  that  Mr.  Adams  had  suppressed  it, 
at  the  same  time  suggesting,  as  a  reason,  that  the  American 
minister  might  profit  by  the  purchase  of  American  stocks  at  panic- 
prices  ! 

When  the  excitement,  in  our  country,  caused  by  the  "Trent 
affair,"  was  subsiding,  early  in  1862,  public  attention  was  at 
tracted  by  the  fitting  out  of  a  third  naval  armament  at  Hampton 
Roads.  It  was  composed  of  over  one  hundred  war-vessels  and 
transports  commanded  by  Commodore  L.  M.  Goldsborough,  and 
bearing  sixteen  thousand  land  troops  under  General  Ambrose  E. 
Burnside,  of  Rhode  Island.  The  armament  left  the  Roads  on 
the  nth  of  January  (1862),  with  its  destination  unknown  except  GENERAL  FRAN/  SIGEL 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


231 


VIEWS  TAKEN  AT  NASHVILLE 


DECK  OF  GUNBOAT  "ARAGO" 


232 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


GENERAL  MC!NTOSH,  C.  S.  A. 
KILLED  AT  THE  BATTLE  OF  PEA  RIDGE 


to  proper  officers.     That  destination  was  Roanoke  Island  and  Pamlico  Sound,  on  the  coast  of  North 

Carolina.     Off  Cape  Hatteras  the  fleet  encountered  a  heavy  gale,  and  it  was  several  days  before  the  whole 

armament  had  entered  the  Inlet. 

The  Confederates  had  strongly  fortified  Roanoke  Island 
with  batteries  that  commanded  the  Sounds  on  each  side  of  it. 
There  was  also  a  fortified  camp  that  extended  across  a  narrow 
part  of  the  island.  These  fortifications  were  garrisoned  by 
North  Carolina  troops  then  under  the  command  of  Colonel  H. 
M.  Shaw,  and  mounted  about  forty  guns.  They  had  also 
placed  obstructions  in  the  channel  leading  to  the  island;  and 
above  them,  in  Croatan  Sound,  was  a  flotilla  of  small  gunboats 
— a  sort  of  "mosquito  fleet"  like  Tattnall's  in  Port  Royal 
Sound — commanded  by  Lieutenant  W.  F.  Lynch,  late  of  the 
National  navy.  Preparations  were  made  for  an  attack  by  land 
and  sea,  the  first  week  in  February.  Goldsborough  drew  up 
his  fleet  of  seventy  vessels  in  Croatan  Sound,  and  opened  a  bom 
bardment  upon  the  batteries.  It  was  kept  up  all  the  afternoon, 
the  flotilla  and  the  batteries  responding  to  Goldsborough 's  guns. 
At  midnight,  while  a  cold  storm  of  wind  and  rain  was  sweeping 
over  the  land  and  water,  about  eleven  thousand  troops  were 
landed  on  the  island,  many  of  them  wading  ashore.  These 
were  New  England,  New  York,  and  New  Jersey  troops.  They 
were  without  shelter,  and  were  drenched.  At  dawn,  led  by 
General  J.  G.  Foster  (Burnside's  lieutenant),  they  moved  for 
ward  to  attack  the  line  of  intrenchments  that  crossed  the  island. 
The  Confederates,  far  inferior  in  number,  made  a.  gallant  de 
fence,  going  from  redoubt  to  redoubt  as  one  after  another  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Nationals.  They  made  a  vigorous  stand 

in  a  well-situated  redoubt  that  was  approached  by  a  causeway.     There  was  to  be  the  last  struggle  in 

defence  of  the  line.     At  the  head  of  a  part  of  Hawkins's  Zouaves,  Major  Kimball  (a  veteran  of  the  war 

with  Mexico)  undertook  to  take  it  by  storm.     Colonel  Hawkins  was  then  leading  a  flank  movement  with 

a  part  of  his  command.     Seeing  Major  Kimball  pushing  forward,  the  Colonel  joined  him,  when  the  whole 

battalion  shouted,  "Zou!  Zou!  Zou!"  and  pressed  to  the  redoubt.     The  affrighted  Confederates  fled  and 

were  pursued  by  Foster  five  or  six  miles,  when  they  surrendered,  and  Roanoke  Island  passed  into  the 

possession  of  the  National  forces,  with  three  thousand  prisoners  and  forty-two  cannon.     The  Confederate 

flotilla  went  up  Albemarle  Sound,  followed  by  National  gunboats  under 

Commodore  Rowan. 

Near  Elizabeth,  not  far  from  the  Dismal  Swamp,  Rowan  attacked  the 

flotilla  and  some  land  batteries,  driving  the  Confederates  from  both,  when 

Lynch  and  his  followers  retired  into  the  interior.     Then  the  United  States 

flag  was  placed  upon  a  shore  battery,  and  this  was  the  first  portion  of  the 

main  of  North  Carolina  that  was  "repossessed"  by  the  Government. 

Other  portions  of  the  coast  of  that  State  were  speedily  recovered ;  and  on 

the  1 8th  of  February,  1862,  Burnside  and  Goldsborough  issued  a  procla 
mation  jointly  to  the  inhabitants  of  eastern  North  Carolina,  assuring 

them  that  the  Government  forces  were  there  not  as  enemies  but  as  friends, 

and  inviting  them  to  separate  themselves  from  the  Confederacy  and  to 

return  to  their  allegiance.     This  disaster,  worked  by  the  National  forces, 

produced  great  depression  throughout  the  Confederacy,  for  it  exposed 

nearly  the  whole  of  the  North  Carolina  main,  and  opened  a  way  by  which 

Norfolk  might  be  smitten  in  the  rear. 

Let  us  now  return  to  the  Mississippi  Valley,  where  we  left  Fremont's 

disappointed  army  sullenly  marching  back  to  St.  Louis. 

Late  in  1861,  the  Department  of  Missouri  was  enlarged,  and  General 

H.  W.  Halleck  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  it.     General  Hunter  was 

assigned  to  the  Department  of  Kansas;  General  Don  Carlos  Buell  to  that 

of  the  Ohio,   and  General  E.   R.   S.   Canby  to  that  of  New   Mexico.  GENERAL  ZOLLKOFKKK  c.  s.  A. 


i    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


234 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


Halleck's  headquarters  were  at  St.  Louis,  and  he  restrained  the  Secessionists  with  a  vigorous  hand.  Since 
the  retrograde  movement  of  Hunter,  with  Fremont's  army,  Price  had  been  gathering  a  Confederate  force 
in  Missouri,  and  General  John  Pope  was  placed  in  command  of  a  considerable  body  of  troops  to  oppose 
him.  Pope  acted  with  great  vigor  and  skill.  He  made  a  short,  sharp,  and  effective  campaign.  Detach 
ments  from  his  army  struck  some  blows  here  and  there  that  were  telling.  One  was  inflicted  by  troops 
under  General  J.  C.  Davis,  on  the  Blackwater,  near  Milford,  which  gave  a  stunning  blow  to  the  insurgents 
in  that  State.  Davis  found  the  enemy  in  a  wooded  bottom  opposite  his  own  forces.  He  carried  a  well- 
guarded  bridge  by  storm,  and  struck  the  Confederates  so  hard  that  they  fled  in  much  confusion;  and 
when  they  were  closely  pursued,  they  surrendered,  in  number  about  thirteen  hundred,  cavalry  and  infantry. 
The  spoils  of  victory  were  eight  hundred  horses  and  mules,  a  thousand  stand  of  arms,  and  over  seventy 
wagons  loaded  with  tents,  baggage,  ammunition,  and  supplies  of  every  kind.  In  a  brief  space  of  time, 
the  power  of  the  insurgents  in  that  quarter  was  paralyzed,  and  Halleck  complimented  Pope  on  his 
"brilliant  campaign." 

Pope  had  not  only  prevented  organized  troops  from  joining  Price,  but  had  compelled  the  latter  to 
withdraw  to  the  borders  of  Arkansas  for  supplies  and  safety.  Feeling  strengthened  by  Pope's  success, 
Halleck  prepared  to  put  forth  more  vigorous  efforts  to  suppress  the  insurrection.  On  |the  3d  of  December 
he  declared  martial  law  in  St.  Louis;  and,  by  a  subsequent  proclamation,  he  extended  that  system  of  rule 


PONTOON  BRIDGE  ON  THE  RAPPAHANNOCK 

to  all  railroads  and  their  vicinities.  Meanwhile,  Price,  relieved  from  immediate  danger,  and  being 
promised  reinforcements  from  Arkansas,  moved  back  to  Springfield,  and  there  concentrated  about  twelve 
thousand  men,  halted  his  army,  and  prepared  to  spend  the  winter  there.  Halleck  sent  troops  in  that 
direction  under  General  S.  R.  Curtis,  assisted  by  Generals  Davis,  Sigel,  Asboth,  and  Prentiss.  They 
moved  in  three  columns  early  in  February  (1862),  when  Price  fled  southward,  and  did  not  halt  until  he 
reached  a  good  position  in  northern  Arkansas.  Curtis  pursued  him,  and  drove  him  further  south;  and 
Halleck  was  enabled  to  write  to  his  Government,  late  in  February,  that  he  had  "purged  Missouri,"  and 
that  the  flag  of  the  Union  was  "waving  in  triumph  over  the  soil  of  Arkansas."  The  campaign  in  Missouri, 
for  a  few  months,  had  been  very  active,  beginning  with  Lyon's  pursuit  of  the  fugitive  governor  and  his 
followers.  From  June,  1861,  until  late  in  February,  1862,  there  had  been  fought  on  Missouri  soil  sixty 
battles  and  skirmishes,  with  an  aggregate  loss  on  both  sides,  in  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners,  of  about 
twelve  thousand  men. 

Curtis  crossed  the  Arkansas  line  on  the  i8th  of  February  in  pursuit  of  Price,  and  had  driven  him  and 
his  followers  over  a  range  of  hills  known  as  the  Boston  Mountains.  He  then  fell  back  and  encamped  in 
a  strong  position  in  the  vicinity  of  Pea  Ridge,  a  spur  of  the  Ozark  Mountains.  In  the  meantime  Price 
had  been  joined  by  General  Earl  Van  Dorn,  a  dashing  young  officer,  who  was  his  senior  in  rank  and  now 
took  the  chief  command.  Forty  heavy  guns  thundered  a  welcome.  "Soldiers!"  cried  Van  Dorn,  in 
response,  "behold  your  leader!  He  comes  to  show  you  the  way  to  glory  and  immortal  renown.  He 
comes  to  hurl  back  the  minions  of  the  despots  at  Washington,  whose  ignorance,  licentiousness,  and  brutality 
are  equalled  only  by  their  craven  natures.  They  come  to  free  your  slaves,  lay  waste  your  plantations, 
burn  your  villages,  and  abuse  your  loving  wives  and  beautiful  daughters." 

Van  Dorn  came  from  western  Arkansas  with  Generals  McCulloch,  Mclntosh,  and  Pike.     The  latter 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


235 


PONTOON  BRIDGE  AT  DEEP  BOTTOM  ON  THE  JAMES 


,(K OMOTIVH    ON    THK    UNITED    STATES    MILITARY    RAILROAD 


236 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


BRIG. -GENERAL  JAMES  A.  GARFIEI.D 


was  a  New  Englandcr  and  poet,  who  had  joined  the  Confederate  army  on  the  borders  of  the  Indian  country 

with  a  body  of  savages  whom  he  had  lured  into  the  service.     The  whole  insurgent  force  now  numbered 

tAventy-five  thousand;  the  National  troops,  soon  to  measure  strength  with  them,  did  not  exceed  eleven 

thousand  men  in  number  with  fifty  pieces  of  artillery. 

When,  on  the  5th  of  March  (1862),  Curtis's  scouts  told  him  of  the 
swift  approach  of  the  Confederates  in  overwhelming  force,  he  concen 
trated  his  little  army  in  the  Sugar  Creek  Valley.  He  perceived  his  perils, 
but  there  was  only  the  alternative  to  fight  or  make  a  disastrous  retreat. 
Choosing  the  former,  he  prepared  to  meet  the  foe  from  whatever  quarter 
he  might  approach.  Meanwhile  Van  Dorn,  by  a  quick  and  stealthy 
movement,  flanked  Curtis  and  gained  his  rear;  and  on  the  morning  of 
the  yth  he  advanced  to  attack  the  Nationals,  not  doubting  his  ability  to 
vanquish  them  and  seize  their  train  of  two  hundred  wagons.  He  found 
Curtis  in  battle  order,  his  first  and  second  division  being  on  his  left  and 
commanded  by  Generals  Asboth  and  Sigel;  the  third,  under  General 
Davis,  composing  his  centre,  and  the  fourth,  commanded  by  Colonel  Carr, 
formed  his  right.  His  line  of  battle  extended  about  four  miles,  and  was 
confronted  by  the  heavy  Confederate  force  with  only  a  broad  and  deep 
ravine  covered  with  fallen  trees  separating  the  two  armies.  The  battle 
was  opened  toward  noon  by  a  simultaneous  attack  by  the  Nationals  and 
Confederates.  A  very  severe  conflict  ensued,  which  continued  a  greater 
part  of  the  day  with  varying  fortunes  to  each  party,  the  lines  of  strife 
swaying  like  a  pendulum.  Generals  McCulloch  and  Mclntosh  of  the 
Confederates  were  killed,  and  the  slaughter  on  both  sides  was  dreadful. 

At  night  the  Confederates  fired  the  last  shot,  but  the  Nationals  held  the  field,  slept  on  their  arms,  and 

anxiously  awaited  the  dawn  to  renew  the  battle. 

Both  armies  lay  among  the  dead  and  dying  that  night.     At  dawn  (March  8,  1862)  the  conflict  was 

renewed,  when  the  Nationals  hurled  such  a  destructive  tempest  of  shot  and  shell  upon  the  Confederates, 

that  the  latter  soon  broke  and  fled  in  almost  every  direction  in  wildest  confusion.     The  Confederate  army, 

so  strong,  and  confident  of  victory  twenty-four  hours  before,  was  broken  into  fragments.     The  losses  of 

each  were  about  the  same.     Curtis's  was  thirteen  hundred  and  eighty  men.     Pike's  Indians,  who  had 

been  maddened  with  liquor,  before  the  battle,  tomahawked  and  scalped  a  number  of  the  Nationals,  and 

were  the  first  to  fly  from  the  field,  in  terror. 

While  Halleck  was  purging  Missouri  of  armed  insurgents,  Hunter,  with  his  headquarters  at  Fort 

Leavenworth,  was  vigorously  at  work  suppressing  the  insurrection  on  the  borders  of  Kansas.     Active 

and  armed  rebellion  was  now  co-extensive  with  the  slave-labor  States.     Civil  War  was  kindling  in  General 

Canby's  Department  of  New  Mexico.     An  attempt  was  there  made  to 

attach  that  Territory  to  the  Confederacy  by  the  method  employed  by 

General  Twiggs  in  Texas,  when  he  betrayed  the  National  forces  under 

his  command.     Disloyal  officers  had  been  sent  by  Secretary  Floyd,  for 

that  purpose,  a  year  before  the  insurrection  broke  out;    but  failing  to 

corrupt  the  troops  (for  not  one  of  the  twelve  hundred  men  abandoned 

his  flag),  and  incurring  their  hot  displeasure,  these  leaders  fled  from  their 

wrath  toward  Texas.     On  the  borders  of  that  State  they  found  the  com 
mander  and  other  officers  of  Fort  Fillmore  ready  to  co-operate  with  them. 

These  men  led  out  their  unsuspecting  men  and  betrayed  them  into  the 

power  of  Texan  insurgents. 

Miguel  A.  Otero,  the  representative  of  New  Mexico  in  the  National 

Congress,  was  in  practical,  active  sympathy  with  the  Secessionists;  and 

the  success  of  the  Confederate  cause  in  that  quarter  seemed  to  be  assured, 

until  Canby  appeared  and  raised  the  standard  of  the  Union,  in  strength. 

Around  it  the  loyal  people  of  the  Territory  gathered;  and  his  regular 

troops,  New  Mexican  levies,  and  volunteers,  gave  him  a  force  sufficient 

to  meet  over  two  thousand  Texans,  most  of  them  rough  rangers  under 

Colonel  H.  H.  Sibley,  a  Louisianian,  who  invaded  the  Territory  at  the 

middle  of  February.     He  had  twenty-three  hundred  followers,  many  of 

them  veterans  who  had  much  experience  in  fighting  the  Indians. 


COMMODORE  A.  II.  I-'OOIE 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


237 


238 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


OFFICERS  ox  DECK  OF  MONITOR 


Canby  was  then  at  Fort  Craig,  on  the  Rio  Grande.  Sibley  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  people  of 
New  Mexico,  in  which  he  denounced  the  National  Government,  and  demanded  from  the  inhabitants 
allegiance  to  the  Confederacy  and  support  for  his  troops.  Feeling  confident  of  success,  he  moved  slowly 

toward  Fort  Craig  to  attack  Canby,  when  he  was  aston 
ished  to  find  the  general  prepared  to  meet  him.  He  per 
ceived  that  his  light  field-pieces  would  have  no  effect  upon 
the  fort.  Unable  to  retreat  or  to  remain  with  safety,  and 
unwilling  to  leave  a  well-garrisoned  post  behind  him, 
Sibley  was  perplexed.  At  length  he  forded  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  took  a  position  out  of  reach  of  Canby 's  guns, 
for  the  purpose  of  drawing  out  the  latter.  In  this  he  was 
successful.  After  some  skirmishing,  there  was  a  severe 
conflict  at  Valverde,  about  seven  miles  from  the  fort,  on 
the  2  ist  of  February.  Canby  was  about  to  make  a  general 
advance,  with  an  assurance  of  victory,  when  about  a  thou 
sand  Texans,  horse  and  foot,  armed  with  carbines,  revol 
vers  and  bowie-knives,  suddenly  burst  from  a  thick  wood 
and  attacked  two  of  the  National  batteries  commanded 
respectively  by  Captains  McRea  and  Hall.  The  cavalry 
wrere  repulsed ;  but  the  insurgent  infantry  pressed  forward 
while  the  grape-shot  were  making  fearful  lanes  through 
their  ranks,  and  captured  the  battery  of  McRea.  The 
brave  captain  defended  his  guns  with  great  courage. 
Seated  upon  one  of  them,  he  fought  the  assailants  with  a 
pistol  until  he  was  shot  dead.  At  length  the  Nationals, 
panic-stricken  by  the  fierceness  of  the  charge,  broke  and  fled,  and  did  not  halt  until  they  reached  the 
shelter  of  Fort  Craig.  That  flight  was  one  of  the  most  disgraceful  scenes  of  the  war;  and  Canby  was 
compelled  to  see  the  victory  snatched  from  him,  just  as  it  seemed  to  be  secured.  But  Sibley,  alarmed  at 
the  sudden  and  unexpected  development  of  Canby's  strength  by  accessions  to  his  ranks,  hurried  toward 
Santa  Fe,  the  capital  of  the  Territory,  which  he  captured  but  could  not  hold;  and  he  was  soon  afterward 
driven  over  the  mountains  into  Texas.  The  Civil  War  now  extended  from  Maryland  in  the  northeast  to 
New  Mexico  in  the  southwest,  and  was  everywhere  marked  by  the  vigor  and  malevolence  which  generally 
distinguish  such  wars. 

While  these  events  were  occurring  westward  of  the  Mississippi,  others  of  great  importance  had  been 
in  progress  immediately  eastward  of  its  waters,  where  efforts  had  been  made  to  expel  the  Confederates 
from  Kentucky  and  release  Tennessee  from  their  grasp.  The  region  of 
southern  and  western  Kentucky  was  then  held  by  the  Confederates. 
They  were  commanded  by  an  able  officer  and  veteran  soldier,  A.  S.  John 
ston,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  Confederate  Western  Department,  with 
his  headquarters  at  Nashville.  Under  the  shadow  of  his  military  power 
the  Secessionists  of  Kentucky  had  met  in  Convention  in  November,  1861, 
and  performed  the  farce  of  declaring  the  State  to  be  independent.  They 
passed  an  ordinance  of  secession;  organized  a  provisional  government; 
chose  George  W.  Johnson  provisional  governor;  appointed  delegates  to 
the  Confederate  congress  at  Richmond,  and  called  Bowling  Green  the 
State  capital.  Fifty-one  counties  were  represented  in  that  "Sovereignty 
Convention"  by  about  two  hundred  men,  without  the  sanction  of  the 
people.  At  the  same  time  General  Johnston  had  concentrated  a  large  force 
at  Bowling  Green,  and  strengthened  the  position  of  Polk  at  Columbus. 
General  Hardee  superseded  General  Buckner;  and  General  Zollicoffer 
was  firmly  planted  at  Cumberland  Gap,  the  chief  passage  between  East- 
tern  Kentucky  and  East  Tennessee.  Between  the  extremes  of  the  Con 
federate  line  across  Kentucky  were  fortified  posts,  the  most  important  of 
which  were  Fort  Donelson  on  the  Cumberland  River,  and  Fort  Henry  on 
the  Tennessee  River. 

Early  in  the  year,  General  Buell  had  organized  a  large  force  at  Louis 
ville  and  its  vicinity,  by  which  he  was  enabled  to  strengthen  various  GENERAL  C.  F.  SMITH 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


239' 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


advanced  posts,  and  throw  forward,  along  the  line  of  the  Nashville  and  Louisville  Railway,  a  large  force 
destined  to  break  the  Confederate  line  across  the  State.  The  whole  number  of  troops  under  his  command 
was  one  hundred  and  fourteen  thousand,  arranged  in  four  columns,  commanded  respectively  by  Brigadier- 
Generals  Alexander  McDowell  McCook,  Ormsby  M.  Mitchell,  George  H.  Thomas  and  Thomas  L.  Crit- 
tenden  acting  as  major-generals,  and  aided  by  twenty  brigade  commanders.  These  troops,  who  were 
citizens  of  States  northward  of  the  Ohio  River,  with  loyalists  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  occupied  an 
irregular  line  across  the  first-named  State,  almost  parallel  with  that  of  the  Confederates. 

General  McCook  was  sent,  with  fifty  thousand  troops,  down  the  railway  toward  Bowling  Green,  and 
pushed  back  the  Confederate  outposts  to  the  south  side  of  the  Green  River,  at  Mumfordsville,  where  a 
sharp  contest  occurred,  when  the  insurgents  were  compelled  to  move  on  to  Bowling  Green.  In  the 


meantime  stirring  events 
Kentucky.  On  the  yth  of 
Confederates  under  Hum- 
by  Union  troops,  infantry 
James  A.  Garfield,  near 
Sandy  River.  The  Confed- 
disheartened,  and  there 
ended.  The  gallant  services 
that  occasion  won  for  him 
adier-general.  A  few  days 
important  event  occurred 
berland  River,  further  west- 
Mill  Spring.  Near  there 
tablished  a  strongly  in- 
in  January  he  was  super- 
eral  George  B.  Crittenden, 
eral  Thomas  was  assigned 
force,  and  if  successful  there 
berland  Mountains,  into 
Secessionists  were  persecu- 
out  stint.  When  he  was 
federate  camp,  Thomas 
tie.  The  Confederates  had 
Nationals.  They  were  led 
dawn  on  the  i8th  of  Jan- 
A  severe  battle  was  fought, 


GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT 


were  occurring  in  eastern 
January  (1862)  a  body  of 
phrey  Marshall  were  struck 
and  cavalry,  led  by  Colonel 
Prestonburg,  on  the  Big 
erates  were  dispersed  and 
Marshall's  military  career 
rendered  by  Garfield  on 
the  commission  of  a  brig- 
later  (January  19)  a  more 
on  the  borders  of  the  Cum- 
ward,  at  Beech  Grove,  near 
General  Zollicoffer  had  es- 
trenched  camp;  but  early 
seded  in  command  by  Gen- 
his  senior  in  rank.  To  Gen- 
the  duty  of  attacking  this 
to  push  on  over  the  Cum- 
East  Tennessee,  where  the 
ting  the  Union  people  with- 
within  ten  miles  of  the  Con- 
made  preparations  for  bat- 
marched  to  meet  the 
by  Zollicoffer,  and  at  early 
uary,  the  hostile  troops  met. 
with  great  persistency  on 


both  sides,  for  the  winner  would  gain  an  immense  advantage  for  his  cause.  Thomas  won  the  battle  after 
a  fierce  contest,  in  which  Zollicoffer  was  slain;  and  the  discomfited  Confederates  fled  into  northeastern 
Tennessee,  suffering  intensely  for  lack  of  food  and  shelter  in  their  flight  across  an  almost  barren  country. 

This  blow  effectually  severed  the  Confederate  line  in  Kentucky,  and  opened  the  way  for  a  series  of 
successful  movements  by  which  the  insurgents  were  soon  driven  out  of  that  State,  and  also  Tennessee. 
The  loss  of  the  Nationals  was  two  hundred  and  forty-seven  men ;  and  of  the  Confederates,  three  hundred 
and  forty-nine.  The  spoils  of  victory  were  twelve  pieces  of  artillery,  a  large  amount  of  munitions  of  war, 
and  more  than  a  thousand  horses,  with  wagons,  intrenching  tools,  camp  equipage,  etc.  For  their  bravery 
in  the  battle  of  Mill  Spring  or  Somerset,  the  President  publicly  thanked  General  Thomas  and  his  men. 
They  had  paralyzed  the  power  of  the  Confederate  line  eastward  of  Bowling  Green,  and  shortened  it  full 
one-half.  The  bulk  of  the  insurgents  and  their  chief  fortifications  were  then  between  Nashville  and 
Bowling  Green,  and  the  Mississippi  River.  The  defeat  was  severely  felt  by  the  Confederates.  They 
perceived  the  urgent  necessity  for  a  bold,  able,  and  dashing  commander  in  the  west,  and  supposing 
Beauregard  to  be  such  an  one,  he  was  ordered  to  Johnston's  Department  late  in  January  (1862),  and 
General  G.  W.  Smith,  who  had  been  an  active  Democratic  politician  in  New  York  City,  was  appointed 
to  succeed  him  at  Manassas. 

The  Confederates  attributed  their  disaster  at  Mill  Spring  to  the  misconduct  of  the  leader  of  the 
troops,  General  Crittenden.  Some  loudly  accused  him  of  treachery  to  the  Confederate  cause ;  while  others, 
more  charitable  and  better  informed,  charged  his  intemperate  habits  with  the  calamity.  It  was  acknowl 
edged  by  all  to  be  an  almost  irretrievable  misfortune. 

When  Beauregard  left  the  army  at  Manassas,  he  issued  a  characteristic  address  to  the  troops, 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


241 


GENERAL  DAVID  HUNTER 


242 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


expressing  a  hope  that  he  would  be  among  them  again,  soon.  "I  am  anxious  that  my  brave  countrymen 
here  in  arms,"  he  said,  "fronting  the  haughty  array  and  muster  of  Northern  mercenaries,  should  thoroughly 
appreciate  the  exigency."  In  allusion  to  the  disquietude  that  was  manifested  by  them  because  of  their 
long  enforced  inaction,  he  said  that  it  was  no  time  for  that  army  "to  stack  their  arms,  and  furl,  even  for 
a  brief  period,  the  standards  they  had  made  glorious  by  their  manhood."  But  they  were  much  dispirited 
by  the  defeat  of  their  armies  at  Mill  Spring,  and  this  was  deepened  by  the  capture  of  Roanoke  Island 
soon  afterward.  This  feeling  amounted  almost  to  despair  when  a  more  important  reverse  to  their  arms 
occurred  on  the  Tennessee  and  Cumberland  rivers  at  the  middle  of  Februarv. 


CONTRABAND  CAMP  NEAR  MANCHESTER,  VA. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

A  Gunboat  Fleet — Expedition  against  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson — Capture  of  Forts  Henry  and  Hieman — Naval  Expedition  up  the 
Tennessee — Its  Discoveries — Army  Reorganized — Siege  of  Fort  Donelson — Change  in  Temperature — Engagements  on  Land  and 
Water — A  Desperate  Measure  Attempted — Council  of  War — Cowardice — Surrender  of  Fort  Donelson — Army  Postal  Service — 
Panic  at  Nashville — Surrender  of  the  City — Provisional  Government  for  Tennessee — Events  on  the  Mississippi  River — Siege  and 
Capture  of  Island  Number  Ten — Movement  toward  Corinth — National  Army  at  Pittsburg  Landing — Buell's  Army  on  the  March. 

WHEN  the  Confederate  line  in  Kentucky  was  broken,  the  National  Government  determined  to 
concentrate  the  forces  of  Halleck  and  Buell  for  a  great  forward  movement  to  push  the  Confed 
erates  toward  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.     Fremont's  plan  for  providing  gunboats  for  the  western  rivers, 
to  co-operate  with  the  armies,  had  been  carried  out.     Twelve  of  these  vessels  (some  of  them  covered 
with  iron  plates)  had  been  constructed  at  St.  Louis  and  Cairo,  and  at  the  close  of  January  these  were 
armed  with  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  heavy  guns  and  some  lighter  artillery,  and  were  placed  under 
the  command  of  flag-officer  A.  H.  Foote  of  the  National  navy.     When  everything  was  in  readiness,  some 
feints  were  made  to  deceive  the  Confederates.     These  were  reconnaissances  down  each  side  of  the 
Mississippi  River  from  Cairo;  and  Thomas  feigned  a  movement  in  force  against  East  Tennessee. 

In  the  meantime  an  expedition  against  Fort  Henry  on  the  Tennessee  River,  and  Fort  Donelson  on 
the  Cumberland  River,  where  those  streams  approach  each  other  to  within  a  distance  of  about  twelve 
miles,  had  been  prepared.  The  land  troops  were  placed  under  the  command  of  General  U.  S.  Grant, 
assisted  by  General  C.  F.  Smith.  Commodore  Foote  was  called  tc  the  Tennessee  with  his  flotilla  of 
gunboats;  and  at  dawn  on  the  3d  of  February,  1862,  a  portion  of  that  flotilla  was  only  a  few  miles  below 
Fort  Henry,  on  that  stream,  and  the  land  troops  were  disembarking  from  transports.  The  fort  lay  at 
the  bend  of  the  stream,  on  the  right  bank,  and  its  guns  commanded  a  reach  of  the  river  for  about  two 
miles.  It  was  armed  with  seventeen  guns,  twelve  of  which  could  sweep  the  river.  At  the  time  we  are 
considering,  the  garrison  in  the  fort  and  troops  encamped  around  it  numbered  less  than  three  thousand, 
commanded  by  General  Tilghman,  of  Maryland,  a  graduate  of  the  West  Point  Academy.  Grant  and 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


243 


l  ~'      •  '  .7»T  *J 


THE  INTELLIGENT  CONTRABAND,  "JOHN  HENRY,"  A  WELL-REMEMBERED  SERVANT 


CONFEDERATE  WINTER  QUARTERS,  CENTREVILI.K,  VA.,   1862 


244 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


Foote  had  asked  and  obtained  permission  of  Halleck  to  attack  Fort  Henry,  and  that  was  the  task  which 
they  attempted  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  February. 

Both  arms  of  the  service  proceeded  to  strike  Fort  Henry  simultaneously.  The  land  force  was 
composed  of  the  divisions  of  McClernand  and  Smith.  The  armed  flotilla  in  hand  consisted  of  the  gunboats 
Essex,  St.  Louis,  Carondelet  and  Cincinnati.  The  river  below  Fort  Henry  had  been  strewn  with  torpedoes, 
but  these  were  successfully  fished  up  before  the  attack.  Opposite  Fort  Henry  was  Fort  Hieman,  situated 
upon  a  great  hill,  from  which  artillery  might  be  brought  to  bear  upon  assailants  of  the  former.  To  silence 
its  batteries,  a  portion  of  the  land  troops  went  up  that  side  of  the  river,  while  others  proceeded  to  gain  a 
point  between  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson.  The  flotilla  moved  forward  and  opened  the  contest  at  noon 
on  the  6th,  and  before  the  land  troops  could  reach  a  position  to  co-operate,  the  fort,  with  its  little  garrison, 
had  been  surrendered  to  Foote.  A  tremendous  rain-storm,  with  thunder  and  wind,  which  occurred  the 
night  before,  had  made  the  roads  so  heavy,  and  so  swelled  the  little  streams,  that  the  march  of  the  troops 
was  difficult  and  slow.  The  garrison  made  a  gallant  defence;  but  at  the  end  of  one  hour's  conflict,  they 
were  compelled  to  strike  their  flag.  Fort  Hieman  was  also  surrendered.  This  was  a  naval  victory  of 
great  importance,  because  it  proved  the  efficiency  of  gunboats  on  the  narrow  western  rivers  in  co-operation 
with  land  forces.  Therefore  the  fall  of  Fort  Henry  was  hailed  as  a  most  happy  omen  of  the  success  of  the 
Union  cause.  Halleck  telegraphed  to  McClellan :  __ ^^^^^^^m^mm  ' '  Fort  Henry  is  ours !  the  flag 
of  the  Union  is  re-established  on  the  soil  of  Ten- 
moved!"  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  wrote  to 
ciates  your  gallant  deeds;  and  this  department 
your  brave  associates  its  profound  thanks  for  the 

This  victory  inflicted  a  severe  blow  upon  the 
gave  to  the  Nationals  the  pos- 
portant  posts;  also  a  firm  foot - 
Fort  Donelson  and  in  the  rear 
There  was  now  no  obstacle  to 
the  Tennessee  to  the  fertile 
toward  the  heart  of  the  Con 
sent  Lieutenant-Commander  S. 
capture  of  the  fort,  with  three 
ders  of  the  river.  Those  vessels 
vessels  and  destroying  Confed- 
Alabama,  at  the  foot  of  the 
perfect  success,  for  it  discovered 
region,  and  developed  a  most 
ing  among  the  inhabitants  of 
Confederate  despotism.  Phelps 
reign  of  terror  kept  thousands 

The  report  of  Phelps's  re- 


GENERAL  JOHN  A.  Lex, AN 
GENERAL  R.  J.  OGLESBY 


nessee.  It  will  never  be  re- 
Foote:  "The  country  appre- 
dcsires  to  convey  to  you  and 
service  you  have  rendered." 
power  of  the  Confederates.  It 
session  of  formidable  and  im- 
ing  in  the  vicinity  of  stronger 
of  Columbus,  on  the  Mississippi, 
the  river  navy  in  its  passage  up 
regions  of  northern  Alabama 
federacy.  Thitherward  Foote 
L.  Phelps,  on  the  night  after  the 
vessels,  to  reconnoitre  the  bor- 
wTent  steadily  onward,  seizing  Confederate 
erate  property,  as  far  up  as  Florence,  in 
Mussel  Shoals.  The  reconnaissance  was  a 
the  weakness  of  the  Confederacy  in  that 
gratifying  evidence  of  genuine  Union  feel- 
Tennessee  which  had  been  repressed  by 
was  assured  that  nothing  but  the  dreadful 
from  manifesting  their  love  for  the  old  flag, 
connaissance  was  very  cheering,  and  it  was 


determined  to  attack  Fort  Donelson,  near  Dover,  the  capital  of  Stewart  County,  Tennessee.  It  was  a 
formidable  work,  situated  with  a  front  on  the  high  left  bank  of  the  Cumberland  River,  among  hills 
furrowed  by  deep  ravines,  and  its  irregular  lines  of  outlying  intrenchments  covering  about  one  hundred 
acres.  General  Grant  reorganized  his  army  in  three  divisions,  under  Generals  McClernand,  Smith,  and 
Lewis  Wallace ;  and  Commodore  Foote  hurried  back  to  Cairo  with  three  of  his  gunboats  to  take  his 
mortar-boats  to  the  Cumberland  River  to  assist  in  the  attack  on  Fort  Donelson. 

The  divisions  of  McClernand  and  Smith  left  Fort  Henry  on  the  morning  of  the  i2th  of  February 
(1862),  and  marched  for  Fort  Donelson,  leaving  Wallace  with  a  brigade  to  hold  the  vanquished  forts  on 
the  Tennessee.  They  invested  Fort  Donelson  the  same  evening;  and  after  some  picket-firing  the  next 
morning,  General  Grant  resolved  to  wait  for  the  arrival  of  the  flotilla  (bearing  troops  that  would  complete 
Wallace's  division)  before  making  a  general  attack.  On  the  same  morning  Ex-Secretary  Floyd  arrived 
from  Virginia,  with  troops,  and  superseded  General  Pillow,  who  was  in  command  of  Fort  Donelson. 
Floyd  and  Pillow  were  materially  assisted  by  General  S.  B.  Buckner,  a  better  soldier  than  either  of  them, 
but  he  was  subordinate  to  both  of  the  inefficient  commanders.  All  that  day  (February  i3th)  there  was 
skirmishing,  and  toward  evening  an  unexpected  enemy  appeared  in  the  form  of  severe  frost.  The  morning 
had  dawned  in  uncommon  splendor,  and  the  air  was  as  balmy  as  that  of  late  spring;  but  toward  evening 
a  violent  rain-storm  arose,  the  temperature  fell,  and  before  morning  the  ground  became  frozen  almost  as 
hard  as  iron  and  everything  was  mailed  in  ice.  The  National  troops  were  bivouacked  without  tents,  and 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


245 


> 

o 

w 
pi 


246 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


BATTERY  ON  THE  JAMES  IN  WINTER 


they  dared  not  light  fires  for  fear  of  exposing  themselves  to  the  guns  of  the  fort.     They  were  without 
sufficient  food  and  clothing,  and  their  sufferings  were  so  dreadful  that  they  anxiously  awaited  the  dawn 

and  expected  reinforcements. 

General  Grant  perceived  the  peril  of  his  situation,  and  had 
sent  to  General  Wallace  to  bring  his  troops  over  from  the  Ten 
nessee.  The  latter  moved  at  daybreak  on  the  i-).th,  the  ground 
encrusted  with  frozen  sleet  and  the  air  filled  with  drifting  frost. 
These  troops  were  in  high  spirits.  With  cheering  and  singing  of 
songs  they  pressed  forward,  and  at  noon  their  commander  dined 
with  General  Grant  on  crackers  and  coffee.  Meantime  the 
armored  flotilla,  with  the  transports,  had  arrived,  and  Wallace's 
division  was  perfected.  It  was  immediately  posted  between  the 
divisions  of  McClernand  and  Smith,  and  so  the  thorough  invest 
ment  of  the  fort  was  completed.  At  three  o'clock  that  afternoon, 
the  Carondclet,  Captain  Walke,  began  the  assault  on  Fort  Donel- 
son,  and  was  soon  joined  by  the  St.  Louis,  Pittsburg,  and  Loitisi'illc. 
Unarmored  vessels  formed  a  second  line;  and  the  flotilla  boldly 
attacked  the  water-batteries,  but  without  much  effect.  The 
mortar-boats  had  not  arrived ;  and  never  were  war-vessels  exposed 
to  a  more  tremendous  pounding  than  were  the  four  aimored  gunboats  in  this  fight  by  missiles  from  the 
shore  batteries.  They  received,  in  the  aggregate,  one  hundred  and  forty  wounds,  and  fifty-four  men 
were  killed  or  wounded.  Foote  was  compelled  to  withdraw,  when  he  hastened  to  Cairo  to  have  damages 
repaired,  and  to  bring  up  a  competent  naval  force  to  assist  in  carrying  on  the  siege.  Grant  resolved  to 
await  Foote's  return  and  for  expected  reinforcements. 

The  night  of  the  i4th  was  an  anxious  one  for  both  parties.  The  Confederates,  perceiving  their  peril, 
held  a  council  of  war.  Floyd's  opinion  was  that  the  fort  was  untenable  with  less  than  fifty  thousand  men 
to  defend  it;  and  that  the  garrison  might  be  saved  only  by  a  sortie  the  next  morning  to  rout  or  destroy 
the  investing  army,  or  to  cut  through  it  and  escape  to  the  open  country  in  the  direction  of  Nashville. 
This  desperate  measure  was  attempted  at  five  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  i5th,  by  about  ten  thousand 
men,  led  by  Pillow  and  Buckner,  the  former  striking  McClernand  on  the  right  of  the  Nationals,  and  the 
latter  prepared  to  attack  Wallace  in  the  centre.  Pillow  had  boasted  that  he  would  "roll  the  enemy  in 
full  retreat  over  upon  Buckner,  when  the  latter,  attacking  them  on  the  flank  and  rear,  would  cut  up  the 
Federals  and  put  them  completely  to  rout."  The  attack  was  quick  and  furious;  but  the  troops  that 
first  received  the  shock  of  battle  (Oglesby's  brigade),  maintained  their  ground  gallantly  until  their 
ammunition  began  to  fail.  Relief  was  sent,  but  the  pressure  was  so  great  that  the  whole  line  gave  way 
excepting  the  extreme  left  held  by  Colonel  John  A.  Logan's  Illinois  regiment,  which  stood  as  firm  as  a 
wall  and  prevented  a  panic.  The  good  service  of  the  light  batteries  of  Taylor,  McAllister  and  Dresser, 
made  the  Confederate  line  recoil  again  and  again.  But  fresh  troops  continually  strengthened  it,  until 
at  length  the  whole  of  McClernand's  division  were  in  great  peril.  Then  he  called  upon  Wallace  for  help, 
and  it  was  given  so  effectually,  that  after  a  hard  and  skillful  struggle  on  the  part  of  the  Nationals,  with 
the  Confederate  forces  of  Buckner  and  Pillow  combined,  the  latter 
were  compelled  to  fall  back  to  their  trenches.  "I  speak  ad 
visedly,"  wrote  Colonel  Hillyer  (Grant's  aide-de-camp)  to  Wal 
lace,  the  next  day,  "God  bless  you!  You  did  save  the  day  on 
the  right." 

In  the  meantime  General  Smith  had  been  smiting  the  Con 
federate  right  such  telling  blows,  that  when  darkness  fell  upon  the 
scene,  the  Nationals  were  victorious  and  the  vanquished  Confed 
erates  were  imprisoned  within  their  trenches,  unable  to  escape. 

Finding  themselves  closely  held  by  Grant,  the  question, 
"How  shall  we  escape5"  was  a  paramount  one  in  the  minds  of 
the  Confederates,  especially  of  Floyd  and  Pillow.  They  were  both 
terror-stricken  by  the  impending  danger  of  falling  into  the  hands 
of  their  outraged  Government.  At  midnight,  Floyd,  Pillow,  and 
Buckner  held  a  private  council  at  Pillow's  quarters  in  Dover, 
where  it  was  concluded  that  the  garrison  must  be  surrendered.  "But,  gentlemen,"  said  Floyd  nervously, 
"/  cannot  surrender;  you  know  my  position  with  the  Federals;  it  won't  do,  it  won't  do."  Pillow  then 


CONFEDERATE  "QUAKER"  GUNS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


247 


GROUP  OF  SCOUTS  AND  GUIDES 


OFFICE  OF  ASSISTANT  QUARTERMASTER 


248 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


said:  "I  will  not  surrender  myself  nor  my  command — will  die  first."  "Then,"  said  Buckner,  coolly,  "I 
suppose,  gentlemen,  the  surrender  will  devolve  upon  me."  The  terrified  Floyd  said,  quickly,  "General, 
if  you  are  put  in  command,  will  you  allow  me  to  take  out,  by  the  river,  my  brigade ? "  "If  you  will  move 

before  I  offer  to  surrender,"  Buckner  replied.  "Then,  sir," 
answered  Floyd,  "I  surrender  the  command."  Pillow,  who  was 
next  in  rank,  and  to  whom  Floyd  offered  to  transfer  the  command, 
quickly  exclaimed,  "I  will  not  accept  it — I  will  never  surrender." 
As  he  spoke  he  turned  toward  Buckner,  when  the  latter,  with  the 
courage,  the  manliness  and  the  honor  of  a  soldier,  said:  "I  will 
accept,  and  share  the  fate  of  my  command." 

Within  one  hour  after  that  conference,  Floyd,  with  a  part  of 
his  Virginians,  deserted  his  companions-in-arms  and  fled  up  the 
river,  toward  Nashville,  in  a  steamboat.  At  the  same  time  Pillow 
sneaked  away  in  the  darkness,  after  declaring  he  would  "die" 
before  he  would  surrender,  and  finally  escaped  to  his  home  in 
Tennessee.  History  affords  no  meaner  picture  than  this.  The 
indignant  authorities  at  Richmond  suspended  both  the  cowards 
from  command ;  and  an  epigrammatist  of  the  day  wrote  as  follows 
concerning  Floyd's  escape : 

"The  thief  is  a  coward  by  Nature's  law; 

Who  betrays  the  State,  to  no  one  is  true: 
And  the  brave  foe  at  Donelson  saw, 

Their  light-fingered  Floyd  was  light-footed  too." 

Early  the  next  morning — the  Christian  Sabbath — Buckner  asked 
for  the  appointment  of  commissioners  to  agree  upon  terms  of 
surrender.  Grant  replied:  "No  terms  other  than  unconditional 
and  immediate  surrender  can  be  accepted.  I  propose  to  move 
immediately  upon  your  works."  This  answer  was  followed  by 
the  speedy  surrender  of  the  fort,  and  of  thirteen  thousand  five 
hundred  men  as  prisoners  of  war;  and  the  spoils  of  victory  were 

three  thousand  horses,  forty-eight  field-pieces,  seventeen  heavy  guns,  twenty  thousand  muskets,  and  a 
large  quantity  of  military  stores.  This  catastrophe  greatly  dispirited  the  Confederates;  and  from  the 
time  when  the  fact  became  known  in  Europe,  no  court  ever  entertained  an  idea  of  recognizing  the  inde 
pendence  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.  It  was  estimated  that  during  the  siege  the  Confederates  lost 
two  hundred  and  thirty-seven  killed  and  one  thousand  wounded.  The  estimated  loss  of  the  Nationals 
was  four  hundred  and  forty-six  killed,  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-five  wounded,  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  who  were  made  prisoners,  and  who,  being  sent  across  the  river,  were  not  recaptured. 

The  admirably  arranged  army  mail-service  was  begun  at  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  under  the 
auspices  of  General  Grant,  to  whom  it  was  suggested  by  Colonel  A.  H.  Markland,  special  agent  of  the 
National  Post-office.  In  the  following  letter  to  me,  dated  "July 
30,  1866,"  General  Grant  gives  a  brief  account  of  its  origin: 

"DEAR  SIR- 

"  Among  the  subjects  that  occupied  my  mind  when  I  assumed 
command  at  Cairo,  in  the  fall  of  1861,  was  the  regular  supply  of 
mails  to  and  from  the  troops;  not  only  those  in  garrison,  but  those 
on  the  march  when  active  movements  should  begin.  When  I  com 
menced  the  movement  on  Fort  Henry,  on  January  7,  1862,  a 
plan  was  proposed  by  which  the  mails  should  promptly  follow, 
and  as  promptly  be  sent  from  the  army.  So  perfect  was  the 
organization  that  the  mails  were  delivered  to  the  army  imme 
diately  upon  its  occupation  of  the  fort.  Within  one  hour  after 
the  troops  began  to  march  into  Fort  Donelson,  the  mail  was  being 
distributed  to  them  from  the  mail  wagons.  The  same  promptness 
was  always  observed  in  the  armies  under  my  command,  up  to  the 

period  of  the  final  disbandment.  It  is  a  source  of  congratulation  that  the  postal  service  was  so  conducted, 
that  officers  and  men  were  in  constant  communication  with  kindred  and  friends  at  home,  and  with  as 


COMMODORE  HENRY  WALKE 


A  Bow  GUN 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


249 


O 
e 
*/. 

CD 
O 


6 


o 


250 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


much  regularity  as  the  most  favored  in  the  large  cities  of  the  Union.  The  postal  system  of  the  army,  so 
far  as  I  know,  was  not  attended  with  any  additional  expense  to  the  service.  The  system  adopted  by  me 
was  suggested  and  ably  superintended  by  A.  H.  Markland,  special  agent  of  the  Post-office  Department. 

"Respectfully,  .«TJ    g_  GRANT>  General." 

The  chaplain  of  each  regiment  was  recognized  at  first  as  "Regimental  Postmaster."  Afterward, 
the  mails  were  "brigaded."  They  were  placed  in  canvas  bags  at  the  General  Post-office  and  sent  to 
each  brigade,  under  charge  of  military  authority.  The  Post-office  Department  had  no  further  control 
of  the  army  mails  after  they  left  the  office  at  Washington  city.  The  regularity  with  which  the  great 
armies  of  Grant,  Sherman,  Thomas  and  others  in  the  West,  as  well  as  those  in  the  Atlantic  States,  were 
supplied  with  mails,  under  the  general  superintendence  of  Colonel  Markland,  was  marvelous.  He  and 
his  assistants  encountered  dangers  as  appalling  as  those  to  which  the  soldiers  were  exposed — perils  from 
bullets,  fatigue  and  privations — yet  they  never  lost  a  mail  by  capture,  over  which  they  had  personal 
control.  The  mail  was  nearly  always  in  advance  of  the  armies,  or  moving  in  a  direction  to  meet  them. 
The  number  of  letters  thus  carried  was  enormous.  "For  months,"  wrote  Mr.  S.  J.  Bowen,  the  Post 
master  of  Washington  city,  in  a  letter  to  me  dated  July  26,  1866,  "we  received  and  sent  an  average  of 


CONFEDERATE  PRISONERS  AT  BELLE  PLAIN 

250,000  military  letters  per  day.  It  is  believed  that  this  number  was  exceeded  after  General  Sherman's 
army  reached  Savannah,  and  up  to  the  time  of  the  review  of  the  troops  in  this  city  in  the  month  of  May, 
1865."  He  says  that  the  vast  number  of  packages  of  clothing  and  articles  of  every  kind  which  were  sent 
by  the  mails,  reached  their  destination  as  regularly  as  if  the  recipient  lived  in  a  large  city.  The  only 
loss  of  any  moment  which  this  extra  service  inflicted  upon  the  Post-office  Department,  was  in  mail-bags. 
"It  is  estimated,"  wrote  Mr.  Bowen,  "that  at  least  thirty  thousand  of  these  were  sent  out  which  never 
found  their  way  back  to  this  office,  though  every  effort  was  made  by  us  to  have  them  returned."  This 
army  mail-service  presents  one  of  the  moral  wonders  of  the  great  conflict ;  and  its  value,  in  keeping  whole 
armies  in  continual  communication  with  friends  at  home,  is  incalculable.  It  was  a  powerful  preventive 
of  that  terrible  home-sickness  with  which,  at  first,  raw  troops  are  often  prostrated;  and  it  brought  the 
sweet  influence  of  the  domestic  circle  to  bear  most  powerfully  in  strengthening  the  men  against  the 
multifarious  temptations  of  army  life. 

It  was  clearly  perceived  by  General  A.  S.  Johnston,  that  the  fall  of  Fort  Donelson  rendered  Bowling 
Green  and  Columbus  untenable,  and  their  evacuation  was  ordered  to  take  place  immediately.  The 
troops  at  Bowling  Green,  who  were  menaced  by  the  swiftly  approaching  advance  of  Buell's  army  under 
the  energetic  General  Mitchel,  were  ordered  to  retire  to  Nashville.  They  did  so,  in  haste,  after  destroying 
their  property  at  Bowling  Green  valued  at  half  a  million  dollars,  and  were  followed  by  the  Army  of  the 
Ohio.  At  the  same  time  National  gunboats  ascended  the  Cumberland  River  and  co-operated  with  troops 
marching  on  that  place.  These  movements  created  a  fearful  panic  among  the  Secessionists.  The  governor 
of  Tennessee  (Harris)  was  made  almost  crazy  by  alarm.  He  rode  through  the  streets  of  Nashville,  with 


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251 


PROVOST  MARSHALL'S  30  ARMY  CORPS 


SUTLER'S  CAMP,  SOTH  NEW  YORK  ENGINEERS 


252 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    W  A  R 


PROFESSOR  LOWE  IN  His  BALLOON  "INTREPID" 
WATCHING  BATTLE  OF  SEVEN  PINES 


his  horse  at  full  speed,  crying  out  that  the  papers  in  the  Capitol  must  be  removed,  for  he  well  knew  what 
evidences  of  his  treason  they  contained.  He  and  his  guilty  compeers  gathered  as  many  of  the  archives 
as  possible  and  fled  by  railway  to  Memphis,  while  officers  of  the  banks  in  Nashville  bore  away  the  specie 

from  the  vaults  of  those  institutions.  Citizens  with  their 
most  valuable  possessions  that  were  portable,  crowded  the 
stations  of  railways  that  extended  to  Decatur  and  Chat 
tanooga.  Every  kind  of  wheeled  vehicle  was  brought  into 
requisition,  and  the  price  of  hack  hire  was  raised  to  twenty- 
five  dollars  an  hour.  The  authorities  gave  up  all  as  lost. 
The  public  stores  were  thrown  wide  open,  and  everybody 
was  allowed  to  carry  off  provisions  and  clothing  without 
hindrance.  The  panic  was  more  intense  because  of  the 
sudden  reaction  from  joy  occasioned  by  a  foolish  boast  of 
Pillow,  on  Saturday,  that  victory  for  the  Confederates  was 
sure.  It  was  followed  by  a  despatch  from  him  while  the 
armies  were  yet  struggling  and  the  Confederates  had 
gained  a  slight  advantage,  in  which  he  said:  "Enemy  re 
treating!  Glorious  result!  Our  boys  following  and  pepper 
ing  their  rear! .'  A  complete  victory! !"  The  people  were 
comfortably  seated  in  the  churches,  and  the  ministers 
were  prepared  to  preach  congratulatory  sermons,  when  the 
astounding  news  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Donelson  and  the  cow 
ardly  desertion  of  the  post  by  Floyd  and  Pillow  reached 
them.  Pillow's  act  was  a  crushing  commentary  on  his  fool 
ish  boast,  and  the  people  pronounced  his  doom  of  disgrace 
before  the  authorities  at  Richmond  had  promulgated  it. 

Johnston  and  his  troops  moved  rapidly  southward  from  Nashville,  and  the  city  was  surrendered 
to  the  Nationals  by  the  municipal  authorities,  on  the  26th  of  February,  1862.  These  events,  following 
so  closely  upon  the  capture  of  Roanoke  Island  and  the  operations  in  its  vicinity,  produced  great  alarm 
throughout  the  Confederacy.  The  loyal  people  of  the  land  were  elated;  and  the  Confederates  being 
virtually  expelled  from  Tennessee,  the  State  government  abdicated  by  its  fugitive  governor,  and  much 
latent  loyalty  being  displayed,  the  National  Government  proceeded  to  re-establish  civil  government  there. 
Andrew  Johnson,  of  East  Tennessee,  was  appointed  provisional  governor  with  the  military  rank  of  brig 
adier-general,  and  he  entered  upon  his  duties,  at  Nashville,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1862. 

The  Mississippi  River  now  became  the  theatre  of  stirring  events.  Beauregard,  as  we  have  observed, 
had  been  sent  West,  and  was  now  in  command  of  troops  on  the  borders  of  the  mighty  stream,  above 
Memphis;  and,  obedient  to  orders  from  Richmond,  he  directed  General  Polk  to  evacuate  Columbus,  and 
transfer  his  troops  and  as  much  of  the  munitions  of  war  as  possible  to  places  of  greater  safety.  New 
Madrid,  Madrid  Bend,  and  Island  Number  Ten  were  chosen  for  this  purpose.  Meanwhile  Commodore 
Foote  had  put  in  motion  a  fleet  of  gunboats  on  the  Mississippi, 
and  accompanying  transports  bore  two  thousand  troops  under 
General  W.  T.  Sherman.  When,  on  the  4th  of  March,  this  arma 
ment  approached  Columbus,  the  Union  flag  was  seen  floating 
there.  It  had  been  unfurled  the  previous  evening  by  a  scouting 
party  of  Illinois  troops  from  Paducah,  who  found  the  fortifications 
deserted.  Sherman  left  a  garrison  at  Columbus,  and  Foote  re 
turned  to  Cairo  to  prepare  for  a  siege  of  New  Madrid  and  Island 
Number  Ten,  which  constituted  the  key  to  the  Lower  Mississippi. 
The  Confederates  at  the  former  place  were  commanded  by  Gen 
eral  McCoun,  and  those  on  Island  Number  Ten  were  under  the 
charge  of  General  Beauregard,  in  person,  who  sent  forth  pompous 
proclamations  to  the  inhabitants.  He  called  for  bells  wherewith 
to  make  cannon,  and  there  was  a  liberal  response.  "In  some 
cities,"  wrote  a  Confederate  soldier,  "every  church  gave  up  its 
bells.  Court-houses,  public  institutions,  and  plantations  sent 
theirs.  And  the  people  furnished  large  quantities  of  old  brass  of 
every  description — andirons,  candlesticks,  gas-fixtures,  and  even  I<H.T<;I-.I-.S 


,1     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


253 


o 

c 


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C 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CONFEDERATE  MAGAZINE,  YORKTOWN 


door-knobs.  I  have  seen  wagon-loads  of  these  lying  at  depots  waiting  shipment  to  the  foundries."  They 
were  all  sent  to  New  Orleans.  There  they  were  found  by  General  Butler,  who  sent  them  to  Boston, 
where  they  were  sold  at  auction. 

General  Pope,  dispatched  from  St.  Louis  by  General  Halleck,  drove  the  Confederates  from  New 

Madrid  on  the  night  of  the  i3th  of  March.  They  fled  to  Island 
Number  Ten,  which  then  became  the  chief  object  of  attack  by  the 
Nationals.  Beauregard  had  thoroughly  fortified  it,  and  Foote 
attacked  it  with  heavy  guns  and  mortars  on  the  morning  of  the 
1 6th  of  March.  The  siege  went  on  with  varying  fortunes  for  both 
parties  until  early  in  April.  While  Foote  was  pounding  and 
rending  the  fortifications  of  Beauregard,  Pope  at  New  Madrid 
was  chafing  with  impatience  to  participate  in  the  siege.  His  guns 
easily  blockaded  the  river  (there  a  mile  wide,  and  then  flowing  at 
the  rate  of  seven  or  eight  miles  an  hour) ;  but  he  desired  to  cross 
it  to  the  peninsula  and  attack  the  Island  in  the  rear,  and  so  insure 
its  capture  with  its  dependencies,  their  garrisons  and  munitions 
of  war.  But  the  Tennessee  shore  was  lined  with  batteries  gar 
nished  with  heavy  guns;  and  until  these  could  be  silenced,  it 
would  be  madness  to  attempt  to  cross  the  river  with  any  means 
at  Pope's  command.  Pope  was  at  his  wits'  end,  when  General 
Schuyler  Hamilton  made  the  extraordinary  proposition  to  cut  a  canal  from  the  bend  of  the  Mississippi, 
near  Island  Number  Eight,  across  the  neck  of  a  swampy  peninsula,  to  the  vicinity  of  New  Madrid,  of 
sufficient  capacity  to  allow  the  passage  of  gunboats  and  transports,  and  thereby  effectually  flank  Island 
Number  Ten,  and  insure  its  capture.  Hamilton  offered  to  do  the  work  with  his  division  of  soldiers,  and 
to  have  it  completed  in  the  space  of  a  fortnight.  Pope  sanctioned  the  measure,  and  it  was  performed  in 
nineteen  days  under  the  direction  of  Colonel  Bissell  of  the  Engineers.  The  labor  was- most  fatiguing. 
The  canal  was  twelve  miles  long,  one-half  the  distance  through  a  growth  of  heavy  timber,  where  a  way 
was  made,  fifty  feet  wide,  by  sawing  off  trees  in  some  places  four  feet  under  water. 

Meanwhile  Foote  had  not  been  idle,  but  made  preparations  for  closer  assaults  than  the  long  reach  of 
great  guns  and  mortars  afforded.  On  the  night  of  the  first  of  April  an  expedition  composed  of  Illinois 
troops  and  seamen,  to  the  number  of  one  hundred,  proceeded  to  take  one  of  the  seven  formidable  redoubts 
on  the  Kentucky  shore,  and  were  successful.  This  daring  feat  was  followed,  on  the  night  of  the  3d,  by 
another.  Pope  had  frequently  called  upon  Foote  to  send  gunboats  to  his  assistance.  At  length  the 
gallant  Captain  Walke,  of  the  Carondelet,  obtained  permission  of  his  commander  to  attempt  to  run  by 
the  Confederate  batteries  with  his  vessel.  The  feat  was  successfully  performed  at  midnight  while  a 
fearful  thunder-storm  was  raging.  The  flashes  of  lightning  revealed  her  passage  to  the  commanders  of 
batteries  on  the  shore,  and  she  was 
compelled  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  a 
tremendous  cannonade  from  them  all. 
The  Carondelet  did  not  return  a  shot. 
Only  after  she  had  reached  a  place  of 
safety  below  were  her  guns  heard; 
then  three  of  them  announced  to  anx 
ious  Commodore  Foote  that  she  had 
escaped  all  perils.  She  was  welcomed 
by  the  troops  at  New  Madrid  with 
wildest  huzzas. 

Perceiving  the  peril  that  awaited 
them  when  the  canal  should  be  com 
pleted,  the  Confederates  sunk  steam 
boats  in  the  channel  of  the  river  to  pre 
vent  gunboats  descending  it,  and  they 
unsuccessfully  attempted  to  escape. 
After  the  Carondelet  had  passed  the  bat 
teries,  Beauregard  was  satisfied  that  the 
siege  must  end  in  disaster  and  he  was 
not  disposed  to  bear  the  responsibility. 


BATTERY  MAGRUDER,  C.  S.  A.,  YORKTOWN 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


255 


SCENES  AT  YORKTOWN 


256 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHRONOLOGICAL   SUMMARY   AND    RECORD— Continued 


MAY,   1863 — Continued  from  Section  7 

21—  Middleton,  Tenn.     4th  Mich.,  3d  Ind.,  7th  Pa.,  3d  and  4th  Ohio  and 

4th  U.  S.  Cav.,  39th  Ind.  Mounted  Inft.     Casualties  not  recorded. 
25 — Near  Helena,  Ark.      3d  Iowa  and  5th  Kan.  Cav.      Union   10  killed,   14 

wounded. 

27 — Lake  Providence,  La.     47th  U.  S.  Colored.      Union  1  killed,  1  wounded. 
27  to  July  9 — Siege  of  Port  Hudson,  La.      Union  500  killed,  2.500  wounded. 

Con  fed.  100  killed,  700  wounded,  6,408  prisoners.      Union  Brig. -Gens. 

W.  T.  Sherman  and  H.  E.  Paine  wounded. 

JUNE,  1863 

4 — Franklin,  Tenn.  85th  Ind.,  7th  Ky.  Cav.,  4th  and  6th  Ky.  Cav.,  9th 
Pa.  Cav.,  2d  Mich.  Cav.  Union  25  killed  and  wounded.  Confed. 
200  killed  and  wounded. 

6 — Franklin's  Crossing,  Rappahannock  River,  Va.  20th  X.  J.,  5th  Vt., 
15th  and  50th  N.  Y.  Engineers,  supported  by  6th  Corps.  Union  0 
killed,  35  wounded. 

6  to  8 — Milliken's  Bend,  La.  23d  Iowa  and  three  regts.  colored  troops. 
(Xo  quarter  shown.)  Union  154  killed,  223  wounded,  115  missing. 
Confed.  125  killed,  400  wounded,  200  missing. 

9—  Monticcllo  and  Rocky  Gap,  Ky.  2d  and  7th  Ohio  Cav.,  1st  Ky.  Cav., 
45th  Ohio  and  2d  Tenn.  Mounted  Inft.  Union  4  killed,  26  wounded. 
Confed.  20  killed,  80  wounded. 

Beverly  Ford  and  Brandy  Station,  Va.  2d,  3d,  and  7th  Wis.,  2d  and 
33d  Mass.,  6th  Maine,  86th  and  104th  X.  Y.,  1st,  2d.  5th,  and  6th 
U  S  Cav  2d,  (ith,  8th,  9th,  and  10th  X.  Y.  Cav.,  1st,  Oth,  and  17th 
Pa.  Cav.,  1st  Md.,  8th  111.,  3d  Ind.,  1st  X.  J.,  1st  Maine  Cav.  and  3d 
W.  Va.  Cav.  Union  500  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.  Confed,  700 
killed,  wounded,  and  missing. 

11 — Middleton,  Va.  S7th  Pa.,  13th  Pa.  Cav.,  Battery  L,  5th  U.  S.  Artil. 
Confed.  S  killed,  42  wounded. 

13  and  15 — Winchester,  Va.  2d,  67th,  and  87th  Pa..  18th  Conn.,  12th  W. 
Va  110th,  116th,  122d,  and  123d  Ohio,  3d,  5th,  and  6th  Md.,  12th 
and  13th  Pa.  Cav.,  1st  X.  Y.  Cav..  1st  and  3d  W.  Va.  Cav.,  Battery 
L  5th  U.  S.  Artil.,  1st  W.  Va.  Battery,  Baltimore  Battery,  one  Co. 
14th  Mass.  Heavy  Artil.  Union  3.00<i  killed,  wounded,  and  missing. 
Confed.  850  killed,  wounded,  and  missing. 

14 — Martinsburg,  Va.  106th  X.  Y.,  126th  Ohio,  W.  Va.  Battery.  Union 
200  missing.  Confed.  1  killed,  2  wounded. 

15 — Triplett's  Bridge,  Ky.  15th  Mich.,  10th  and  14th  Ky.  Cav..  7th  and 
9th  Mich.  Cav.,  llth  Mich.  Battery.  Union  15  killed,  30  wounded. 

17 — Aldie,   Va.     Kilpatrick's  Cavalry.      Union   24  killed.   41    wounded,   89 

missing.      Confed.  100  wounded. 

Westport,  Mo.     Two  Cos.  9th  Kan.      Union  14  killed,  6  wounded. 
Capture  of  rebel  gunboat  Atlanta  by  XJ.  S.  ironclad  Weehawkcn.      Confed. 
\  killed,  17  wounded,  145  prisoners. 

20 — Rocky  Crossing,  Miss.  5th  Ohio  Cav.,  9th  111.  Mounted  Inft.  Union 
7  killed,  28  wounded,  30  missing. 

20  and  21 — La  Fourche  Crossing,  La.  Detachments  23d  Conn.,  176th  X.  Y., 
26th,  42d,  and  47th  Mass.,  21st  Ind.  Union  8  killed,  40  wounded. 
Confed.  53  killed,  150  wounded. 

21 — Upperville,  Va.  Pleasanton's  Cavalry.  Union  94  wounded.  Confed. 
20  killed,  100  wounded,  60  missing. 

22 — Hill's  Plantation,  Miss.  Detachment  of  4th  Iowa  Cav.  Union  4  killed, 
10  wounded,  28  missing. 

23 — Brashear  City,  La.  Detachments  of  114th  and  176th  X.  Y..  23d  Conn., 
42d  Mass.,  21st  Ind.  Union  46  killed,  40  wounded,  300  missing. 
Confed.  3  killed,  18  wounded. 

23  to  30— Rosecrans'  Campaign.  Murfreesboro  to  Tullahoma.  Tenn.,  in 
cluding  Middleton,  Hoover's  Gap,  Beech  Grove,  Liberty  Gap,  and 
Gray's  Gap.  Army  of  the  Cumberland:  Fourteenth,  Twentieth,  and 
Twenty-first  Corps,  Granger's  Reserve  Corps,  and  Stanley's  Cavalry. 
Union  85  killed,  402  wounded.  Confed.  1,634  killed,  wounded,  and 
captured. 

28 — Donaldsonville,  La.  28th  Maine  and  convalescents,  assisted  by  gun 
boats.  Confed.  39  killed,  112  wounded,  150  missing. 

29 — Westminster,  Md.  Detachments  1st  Del.  Cav.  Union  2  killed,  7 
wounded.  Confed.  3  killed,  15  wounded. 

30 — Hanover,  Pa.  Cavalry  Corps.  Union  12  killed,  43  wounded.  Confed. 
75  wounded,  60  missing. 

JULY,  1863 

1  to  3 — Gettysburg,  Pa.  Army  of  the  Potomac,  Maj.-Gen.  Geo.  G.  Meade 
First  Corps,  Maj.  Gen.  Reynolds;  Second  Corps,  Maj.  Gen.  Hancock 
Third  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Sickles;  Sixth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Sedgwick; 
Eleventh  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Howard;  Twelfth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen. 
Slocum;  Cavalry  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Pleasanton.  Union  2,834  killed, 
13,709  wounded,  6,643  missing.  Confed.  3.500  killed,  14,500  wounded, 
13,621  missing.  Union  Maj.-Gen.  Reynolds,  Brig. -Gens.  Weed,  Zook, 
and  Farnsworth  killed;  Maj. -Gens.  Sickles  and  Hancock.  Brig. -Gens. 
Paul,  Rowley,  Gibbons,  and  Barlow  wounded.  (Gen.  Lucius  Fair- 
child,  Commander-in-Chief  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  lost  his 
arm  on  the  first  day.)  Confed.  Maj.-Gen.  Pender,  Brig. -Gens.  Gur- 
nctt,  Barksdale,  and  Semmes  killed;  Maj. -Gens.  Hood,  Trimble,  and 
Heth,  Brig. -Gens.  Kcmper,  Scales,  Anderson,  Hampton,  Jones, 
Jenkins,  Pettigrew,  and  Posey  wounded. 

1  to  26 — -Morgan's  raid  into  Kentucky,  Indiana,  and  Ohio,  finally  captured 
at  Xew  Lisbon,  Ohio,  by  Brig. -Gen.  Shackleford's  Cavalry.  Union 
22  killed,  80  wounded,  790  missing.  Confed.  86  killed,  385  wounded, 
3,000  captured. 

4 — Helena,  Ark.  Maj.-Gen.  Prentiss's  Division  of  Sixteenth  Corps  and 
gunboat  Tyler.  Union  57  killed,  117  wounded,  32  missing.  Confed. 
173  killed,  687  wounded,  776  missing. 

4  and  5 — Bolton  and  Birdsong  Ferry,  Miss.  Maj.-Gen.  Sherman's  forces. 
Confed.  2,000  captured. 

4  and  5— Monterey  Gap  and  Smithsburg,  Md.,  and  Fairficld,  Pa.  Kilpat 
rick's  Cavalry.  Union  30  killed  and  wounded.  Confed.  30  killed  and 
wounded,  100  prisoners. 

6 — Lebanon,  Ky.  20th  Ky.  Union  9  killed,  15  wounded,  400  missing. 
Confed.  3  killed,  0  wounded. 


6— Quaker  Bridge,  X.  C.      17th,  23d,  and  27th  Mass..  9th  X.  J.,  81st  and 

158th  X.  V.,  Belger's  and  Angel's  Batteries. 
Hagerstown  and  Williamsport,  Md.      Kilpatrick's  Cavalry. 
7   and   9 — luka.    Miss.      10th    Mo.   and    7th    Kan.    Cav.      Union   5   k'lled.   3 

wounded. 

7    to    9 — Boonsboro,    Md.      Buford's    and    Kilpatrick's    Cavalry.      Union    9 
killed,  45  wounded. 

9  to  16 — Jackson,   Miss.,  including  engagements  at  Rienzi,  Bolton   Depot, 

Canton,  and  Clinton.  9th.  1 3th,  15th,  and  part  of  Kith  Corps.  Union 
ID  )  killed,  800  wounded,  101)  missing.  Confed.  71  killed,  504  wounded, 
704  missing. 

10  to  Sept.  6 — Siege  of  Fort  Wagner.  Morris  Island,^S.  C%    Troops  Depart 

ment  of  the  South,  under  command  of  Maj.-Gen.  Gilmore,  and  U.  S. 

Navy  under  Admiral   Dahlgren.      Union   1.757  killed,  wounded,  and 

missing.      Confed.  561  killed,  wounded,  and  missing. 
12 — Ashby  Gap,  Va.     2d  Mass.  Cav.      Union  2  killed,  8  wounded. 
13 — Yazoo  City,  Miss.      Maj.-Gen.  Herron's  Division  and  three  gunboats. 

Confed.  250  captured. 
Jackson,  Tenn.     9th  111.,  3d  Mich.  Cav.,  2d  Iowa  Cav.,  and  1st  Tenn. 

Cav.      Union  2  killed,  20  wounded.     Confed.  38  killed,  150  wounded. 
Donaldsonville.    La.      Portions    of    Weitzel's    and    Grover's    Divisions, 

Nineteenth  Corps.      Union  450  killed,  wounded,  and  missing. 
13  to  15 — Draft  riots  in   Xew  York  City,  in  which  over  1,000  rioters  were 

killed. 
14 — Falling  Waters,  Md.     3d  Cav.  Division  Army  of  the  Potomac.      Union 

29  killed,  36  wounded.  Confed.  125  killed  and  wounded,  1,500  pris 
oners.  Confed.  Maj.-Gen.  Pettigrew  killed. 

14 — Elk  River,  Tenn.      Advance  of  the  Fourteenth  Corps  Armv  of  the  Cum 
berland.      Union     10    killed,     30    wounded.      Confed.     60    killed,     24 

wounded,  100  missing. 

Xear  Bolivar  Heights,  Va.      1st  Conn.  Cav.     Confed.  25  killed. 
15— Pulaski,  Ala.     3d  Ohio  and  5th  Tenn.  Cav.     Confed.  3  killed,  50  missing. 
Halhown.    Va.      16th   Pa.   and    1st    Maine   Cav.      Union   25  killed   and 

wounded.      Confed.  20  killed  and  wounded. 
16 — Sheppardstown,  Va.      1st,  4th,  and  Kith  Pa.,  10th  X.  Y.  and  1st  Maine 

Cav.     Confed.  25  killed,  75  wounded. 
17— Honey  Springs,  Ind.  Ter.     2d,  6th,  and  9th  Kan.  Cav.,  2d  and  3d  Kan. 

Batteries,  2d  and  3d  Kan.   Indian   Home  Guards.      Union   17  killed. 

60  wounded.     Confed.  150  killed,  400  wounded. 
Wytheville,  W.  Va.     34th  Ohio,   1st  and  2d  W.  Va.  Cav.      Union   17 

killed,  61  wounded.     Confed.  75  killed,  125  missing. 
Canton,  Miss.      76th  Ohio,  25th  and  31st  Iowa,  3d,  13th  and  17th  Mo., 

2d  Wis.   Cav.,  5th   111.   Cav.,  3d  and  4th   Iowa  Cav.,  one  battery  of 

artillery.      Casualties  not  recorded. 
18  to  21— Potter's  Cavalry  Raid  to  Tar  River  and  Rocky  Mount,  X.  C.     3d 

and  12th  X.  Y.  Cav.,  1st  X.  C.  Cav.      Union  00  wounded. 
18  to  26 — Morgan's  Raid  into  Kentucky,   Indiana,  and   Ohio  pursued  and 

captured  by  Brig. -Gens.  Hobson  and  Shackleford's  Cavalry,  including 

skirmishes  at  Burkesville.   Columbia,   Green  River  Bridge,   Lebanon, 

and    Bradenburg,    Ky.,    Cory  don    and    Vernon,    Ind.,    capture    of   the 

larger   part   at    Burlington    Island,    Ohio,    and    final    capture   at    New 

Lisbon,  Ohio,  on  the  26th.      Union  33  killed,  97  wounded,  805  missing. 

Confed.  795  killed  and  wounded,  4,104  captured. 
21  to  23 — Manassas  Gap  and  Chester  Gap,  Va.     Cavalry  advance  and  Third 

Corps  Army  of  the  Potomac.      Union  35  killed,  102  wounded.     Confed. 

300  killed  and  wounded. 
26 — Pattacassey   Creek,    X.    C.     Brig.-Gen.    Heckman's   troops.      Union    3 

killed,  17  wounded. 
30 — Irvine,  Ky.      14th  Ky.   Cav.      Union  4  killed,  5  wounded.     Confed.   7 

killed,  18  wounded. 

AUGUST,  1863 

3 — Rappahannock    Station,    Brandy    Station,   and   Kelly's  Ford,   Va. 
Brig.-Gen.  Buford's  Cav.      Union  16  killed,  134  wounded. 
3— Jackson,  La.     73d,  75th,  and  78th  U.  S.  Colored  Troops.      Union  2  killed, 

2  wounded,  27  missing. 

5 — Dutch  Gap,  James  River,  Va.     U.  S.  Gunboats  Commodore  Barney  and 

Cohasselt.      Union  3  killed,  1  wounded. 

7 — New  Madrid,  Mo.     One  company  24th  Mo.      Union  1  killed,  1  wounded. 
9 — Sparta,  Tenn.     Cavalry  Army  of  the  Cumberland.     Union  6  killed,  25 

wounded. 
13 — Lirenaaa.  Miss.     9th  111..  2d  lowa  uav..  3d  Mich.  Cav.,  3d,  4th,  9th,  and 

llth  111.  Cav.      Casualties  not  recorded. 

Pineville,  Mo.      6th  Mo.  Militia  Cav.      Confed.  65  wounded. 
14 — West  Point,  White  River.  Ark.      32d  Iowa,  with  U.   S.   Gunboats  Lex 
ington,  Cricket,  and  Mariner.      Union  2  killed,  7  wounded. 
21 — Quantrell's  -plunder  and  massacre  of  Lawrence,  Kansas,  in  which   140 

citizens  were  killed  and  24  wounded.      Confed.  40  killed. 
Cold  water.    Miss.     3d   and   4th   Iowa   Cav.,   5th   111.   Cav.      Union    10 

wounded. 
24 — Coyle  Tavern,  near  Fairfax  C.  H.,  Va.     2d  Mass.  Cav.      Union  2  killed, 

3  wounded.      Confed.  2  killed,  4  wounded. 

25  to  30 — Averill's  Raid  in  W.  Va.      Union  3  killed,  10  wounded,  60  missing. 
26 — Rocky  Gap,  near  White  Sulphur  Springs,  Va.      3d  and  Sth  W.  Va.,  2d 

and  3d  W.  Va.  Cav.,  14th  Pa.  Cav.      Union  16  killed,  113  wounded. 

Confed.  150  killed  and  wounded. 
25  to  31-  -Brownsville,  Bayou  Metoe  and  Austin,  Ark.     Davidson's  Cavalry. 

Union  13  killed,  72  wounded. 

SEPTEMBER,   1863 

1 — Barbee's  Cross  Roads,  Va.      Detachment  6th  Ohio  Cav.      Union  2  killed, 

Devil's  Back'Bone,  Ark.  1st  Ark.,  6th  Mo.  Militia,  2d  Kan.  Cav..  2d 
Ind.  Battery.  Union  4  killed,  12  wounded.  Confed,  25  killed,  -10 
wounded. 

(Continued  in  Section  9) 


1  to 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


257 


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258 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


COMMODORE  A.  H.  FOOTE,  U.  S.  X. 


CHAPTER    XV.— Continued. 

AFTER  turning  over  the  command  on  the  Island  to  General  McCall,  and  leaving  the  troops  on  the 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee  shores  in  charge  of  General  McCoun,  Beauregard,  with  a  considerable  number 
of  the  best  soldiers,  departed  for  Corinth  to  check  a  formidable  movement  of  National  troops  through 
n;iddle  Tennessee  toward  northern  Alabama  and  Mississippi.     McCall,  on  assuming  the  command,  issued 

a  flaming  proclamation;  but  within  thirty-six  hours  he  and  his  troops 
prepared  to  escape  from  the  Island.  They  were  interrupted  in  their 
movements  by  General  Pope's  forces  under  Generals  Stanley,  Hamilton, 
and  Paine;  and  Island  Number  Ten,  with  the  troops,  batteries  and  sup 
ports  on  the  main,  were  surrendered  to  the  Nationals  on  the  8th  of  April. 
Over  seven  thousand  men  were  surrendered  prisoners  of  war;  and  the 
spoils  of  victory  were  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  cannons  and  mortars, 
seven  thousand  small  arms,  many  hundred  horses  and  mules,  four  steam 
boats  afloat,  and  a  very  large  amount  of  ammunition. 

The  fall  of  Island  Number  Ten  was  a  calamity  to  the  Confederacy 
from  which  it  never  recovered.  It  produced  widespread  alarm  in  the 
Southern  States;  for  it  appeared  probable  that  Memphis,  one  of  their 
strongholds  on  the  Mississippi,  where  they  had  immense  workshops  and 
armories,  would  soon  share  the  fate  of  Columbus,  and  that  National  war- 
vessels  would  speedily  patrol  the  great  river  from  Cairo  to  New  Orleans. 
Martial  law  was  proclaimed  at  Memphis,  and  the  specie  in  the  banks  there 
was  taken  to  places  of  supposed  safety.  Troops  that  guarded  the  city 
and  panic-stricken  residents  proposed  to  lay  the  town  in  ashes  if  it  could 
not  be  saved  from  "northern  invaders."  The  zeal  of  these  madmen  was 
cooled  by  the  sensible  Mayor  Park,  who  publicly  proclaimed  that  "he  who 

attempts  to  fire  his  neighbor's  house,  or  even  his  own  whereby  it  endangers  his  neighbor's,  regardless  of 
judge,  jury,  or  the  benefit  of  clergy,  I  will  have  him  hung  to  the  first  lamp-post,  tree,  or  awning."  At 
Vicksburg,  preparations  were  made  for  flight,  and  the  disloyal  inhabitants  of  New  Orleans  were  oppressed 
with  fearful  forebodings  of  impending  calamity.  The  governor  of  Louisiana,  who  was  a  leading  Secession 
ist,  issued  a  despairing  appeal  to  the  people.  "An  insolent  and  powerful  foe  is  already  at  the  castle  gate," 
he  said.  "The  current  of  the  mighty  river  speaks  to  us  of  his  fleets  advancing  for  our  destruction,  and 
the  telegraph  wires  tremble  with  the  news  of  his  advancing  columns.  In  the  name  of  all  most  dear  to  us, 
I  entreat  you  to  go  and  meet  him."  But  there  was  little  disposition  to  comply  with  the  governor's  wishes; 
and  when  a  letter  from  Beauregard,  which  he  sent  by  his  surgeon-general,  making  an  urgent  demand  for 
New  Orleans  to  send  five  thousand  troops  to  him,  at  once,  "to  save  the  city,"  was  read  to  the  First  and 
Second  City  Brigades,  who  were  called  out,  their  reply  was,  "We  decline  to  go."  Their  city  then  needed 
defenders  below  instead  of  above  it. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  plan  devised  by  Fremont  was  about  to  be  success 
fully  carried  out.  Curtis  had  already  broken  the  military  power  of  the 
Confederacy  west  of  the  Mississippi,  at  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge;  and  a 
heavy  force  was  then  making  its  way  up  the  Tennessee  toward  Alabama 
and  Mississippi,  and  had,  at  the  moment  of  the  surrender  of  the  famous 
Island,  achieved  a  most  important  victory  on  the  left  bank  of  that  stream 
not  a  score  of  miles  from  Corinth.  Curtis,  after  the  battle  and  the  flight 
of  the  vanquished  Confederates,  finding  no  enemy  to  fight  in  that  region, 
gave  his  army  ample  time  to  rest,  and  then  marched  in  a  southeasterly 
direction  toward  the  Mississippi  River  and  encamped  at  Batesville,  the 
capital  of  Independence  county,  Arkansas,  on  the  White  River. 

After  the  capture  of  Fort  Donelson,  General  Grant  had  prepared 
to  push  toward  Corinth,  an  important  position  on  the  line  of  the  Charles 
ton  and  Memphis  Railway.  Troops  had  been  sent  up  the  Tennessee 
River;  and  finally,  at  the  beginning  of  April,  the  main  body  of  Grant's 
army  were  encamped  between  Pittsburgh  Landing,  on  the  left  bank  of 
that  stream,  and  the  Shiloh  Meeting-House,  the  latter  in  the  forest  two 
miles  from  the  river.  The  grand  objective  was  Corinth.  There  the 
Mobile  and  Ohio  Railway  intersected  the  Charleston  and  Memphis  COMMANDER  C.  S.  BOCGS,  U.  S.  N. 

Copyright.  1895,  by  CIIARLES  F.  JOHNSON.     Copyright.  1935,  by  LOSSING  HISTORY  COMPANY.     Copyright,  191J,  by  THE  WAR  M_..IORIAL  ASSOCIATION. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


259 


GKNKKAI.   M.   C.   MEK.S 


260 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  T.  W.  SHERMAN 


roads.  The  seizure  of  that  point,  as  a  strategic  position  of  vital  im 
portance,  was  Grant's  design.  It  would  give  the  National  forces  control 
of  the  great  railway  communication  between  the  Mississippi  and  the 
East,  and  the  border  slave-labor  States  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  It 
would  also  facilitate  the  capture  of  Memphis,  toward  the  accomplish 
ment  of  which  Foote  was  now  bending  his  energies,  and  it  would  add 
strength  to  the  movements  of  Curtis  in  Arkansas. 

In  the  meantime  General  Buell's  army  had  slowly  made  prepara 
tions  to  march  southward  and  join  Grant's  forces,  which  were,  at  first, 
encamped  at  Savannah,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Tennessee;  but  it 
was  not  until  near  the  close  of  March,  when  Grant's  position  had  become 
really  perilous,  that  Buell  left  Nashville.  He  sent  part  of  his  force 
under  General  Mitchel  in  the  direction  of  Huntsville,  in  northern  Ala 
bama,  to  seize  and  hold  the  Charleston  and  Memphis  Railway;  while 
the  main  body,  composed  of  the  divisions  of  Generals  Thomas,  McCook, 
Nelson,  Crittenden  and  T.  J.  Wood,  moved  more  to  the  westward  by 
way  of  Columbia,  at  which  place  the  troops  left  the  railway  and  marched 
slowly  toward  the  Tennessee  River. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Nationals  and  Confederates  at  Shiloh — Battle  of  Shiloh:  Its  Events  and  Results — The  Confederate  Retreat  to  Corinth — Siege  and 
Capture  of  Corinth — General  Mitchel's  Raid  into  Alabama — Recovered  Territory — Raid  upon  a  Railway — Capture  of  Memphis — • 
Capture  of  New  Berne  and  Fort  Macon— Events  on  the  Coast  of  North  Carolina— Siege  and  Capture  of  Fort  Pulaski— Conquests 
on  the  Southern  Coasts — Expedition  against  New  Orleans — Capture  of  Forts  on  the  Mississippi — Destruction  of  the  Confederate 
Flotilla — Seizure  of  New  Orleans — Hatred  of  General  Butler. 


GENERAL  BEAUREGARD,  who  had  left  Island  Number  Ten  with  a  considerable  body  of  Confed 
erate  troops,  and  had  hastened  to  Corinth  to  prepare  for  resisting  the  grand  movement  of  the 
Nationals  southward,  now  confronted  the  latter  near  Shiloh  Meeting-House  with  a  very  large 
force.  He  had  been  joined  by  the  troops  under  General  A.  S.  Johnston  that  fled  from  Nashville,  and 
that  officer  was  now  Beauregard's  chief  lieutenant,  assisted  by  Generals  Polk,  Hardee,  Bragg,  and 
Breckenridge.  With  these  expert  leaders,  the  Confederates  came  up  from  Corinth  in  a  heavy  rain-storm 
in  separate  columns,  and  concentrated  a  few  miles  from  Shiloh  Meeting-House.  They  came  so  stealthily 
that  they  were  within  four  miles  of  the  National  camp  before  they  were  discovered  by  Grant's  sentinels. 
There  they  halted  on  the  5th  of  April,  1862,  to  await  the  arrival  of  Van  Dorn  and  Price,  who  were 
approaching  Memphis  with  a  large  force  from  central  Arkansas.  Already 
the  Confederate  army  of  eleven  thousand  men  at  Corinth  a  short  time 
before  had  increased  to  forty  thousand  men. 

Intelligence  came  of  Buell's  march  to  join  Grant,  and  on  the  evening 
of  the  5th  it  was  resolved  to  strike  the  Nationals  before  the  dawn  next 
morning,  for  it  was  evident  the  latter  were  not  aware  of  the  near  presence 
of  the  strong  force  of  the  Confederates.  At  a  council  of  war  that  made 
this  decision,  Beauregard,  pointing  toward  the  Union  army,  said:  "Gen 
tlemen,  we  sleep  in  the  enemy's  camp  to-morrow  night."  At  that  time 
General  W.  T.  Sherman's  division  was  lying  in  the  woods  near  Shiloh 
Meeting-House.  General  Prentiss's  division  was  planted  across  the  road 
leading  directly  to  Corinth,  and  General  McClernand's  division  was 
behind  Prentiss's  right.  In  the  rear  of  these  and  between  them  and 
Pittsburg  Landing  lay  General  Hurlburt's  division,  and  that  of  General 
Smith  led  by  General  W.  H.  L.  Wallace.  General  David  Stuart's  brigade 
of  Sherman's  division  lay  upon  a  road  leading  to  Hamburg,  above  Pitts- 
burg  Landing,  and  General  Lewis  Wallace,  with  his  division,  was  at 
Crump's  Landing,  several  miles  below,  observing  Confederate  movements 
at  Purdy,  and  covering  the  river  connections  between  Pittsburg  Landing  GENERAL  S.  A.  HURLBL-RT 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


261 


GENERALS  BURNSIDE,  HANCOCK  AND  STAFF  OFFICERS 


~> 

,/*»{.  *•*. ,'.-  /*'. 

.  '••"•  . ' .  if-  '**--.:  ".4iu  i 
^;                     ,..»:  .-.<,*..  **  '*-\' 


iL  FIT/JOHN  PORTER  AND  STAFF  AT  HARRISON'S  LANDING,  AUGUST,   iNf>2 

COLONEL  LOCKE  (Standing),  MAJOR  KIRKLAND  (Sitting),  MAJOR  MONTEITH,  GENERAL  FIT/JOHN  PORTER,  DOCTOR  MCMILLAN, 

CAPTAIN  McQuADE,  COLONEL  NORTON,  CAPTAIN  MASSA 


202 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


and  Savannah.  To  the  latter  place  General  Halleck  forwarded  supplies  for  the  National  army.  So  little 
was  an  attack  by  the  Confederates  suspected,  that  no  intrenchments  had  been  cast  up  by  the  Nationals, 
and  Buell's  army  was  marching  leisurely  across  Tennessee. 

Almost  the  first  intimation  of  the  near  presence  of  the  Confederates  was  the  wild  cry  of  pickets 
flying  into  camp  and  a  sharp  attack  upon  Sherman's  troops  by  Hardee's  division,  before  the  day  had  fairly 
dawned  on  Sunday  morning,  the  6th  of  April.  Some  of  the  officers  were  slumbering;  some  were  dressing; 
a  portion  of  the  troops  were  washing  and  cooking,  and  others  were  eating  breakfast.  Screaming  shells 
crashed  through  the  forest,  and  bullets  whistled  among  the  tents.  Hardee's  troops  poured  into  the  camp 
of  the  bewildered  Nationals,  fighting  desperately,  driving  half-dressed  and  half-armed  troops  before  them, 


and  dealing  death  and  ter- 
results  followed.  Prentiss's 
His  column  was  shattered; 
of  his  followers  were  made 
occupied  by  the  Confed- 
became  general,  and  for  ten 
varying  fortunes  on  both 
Wallace  of  the  Nationals 
trie  Confederates  had  been 
both  sides  had  been  severe, 
pushed  back  to  the  Tennes- 
with  a  spring  flood,  and  the 
Unicn  troops.  The  victo- 
all  the  Union  camps  except- 
lace,  where  General  McAr- 
In  the  rear  of  this  division 
gathered  in  a  space  not 
acres  in  extent,  on  the  verge 
pushed  back  no  further;  and 
Beauregard  of  his  final 
a  shout  of  victory  to  head- 
General  Grant  had  di- 
National  side  with  great 
light,  were  in  a  most  peril- 
orous  blow,  then  given  by 
justified  his  shout  of  vic- 
one,  that  was  parried  by 
Tyler  and  Lexington,  which 
those  of  a  hastily  formed 


GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT 


ror  on  every  hand.  Fearful 
division  was  next  attacked, 
himself  and  a  large  portion 
prisoners,  and  his  camp  was 
erates.  The  struggle  soon 
hours  the  battle  raged,  with 
sides.  General  W.  H.  L. 
and  General  Johnston  of 
killed,  and  the  slaughter  on 
The  National  army  was 
see  River,  then  brimfull 
day  was  fairly  lost  by  the 
rious  Confederates  occupied 
ing  that  of  the  slain  Wal- 
thur  was  now  in  command, 
the  smitten  army  had  now 
more  than  four  hundred 
of  the  river.  They  could  be 
so  certain  was  General 
triumph ,  that  he  telegraphed 
quarters  at  Richmond, 
rected  the  storm  on  the 
skill,  but  his  forces,  at  twi- 
ous  position.  A  single  vig- 
Beauregard,  might  have 
tory;  but  he  dealt  a  feeble 
the  guns  of  two  boats,  the 
had  just  appeared,  and  by 
battery  on  the  shore. 


Grant's  safety  was  fully  assured  when,  at  evening,  the  van  of  the  slow-moving  army  of  Buell  appeared  on 
the  opposite  shore  of  the  Tennessee,  and  other  portions  of  it  came  up  the  river  during  the  night.  At 
midnight  General  Lewis  Wallace  arrived  with  his  division,  and  then  the  palm  of  victory  was  snatched 
from  the  hands  of  Beauregard. 

In  the  morning  twilight  of  the  7th,  Wallace  opened  the  contest  anew  on  the  Confederate  left,  where 
Beauregard  commanded  in  person.  Others  soon  joined  in  the  battle,  and  it  became  general  all  along  the 
line.  The  Confederates  fought  gallantly,  but  were  speedily  pushed  back  by  a  superior  force;  and  when 
they  perceived  that  all  was  lost,  they  fled,  under  a  storm  of  blinding  sleet  and  cold  rain,  to  the  heights  of 
Monterey  in  the  direction  of  Corinth.  They  were  covered,  in  their  retreat,  by  a  rear-guard  of  twelve 
thousand  men,  commanded  by  Ex-President  Breckenridge.  The  Confederates  had  lost  over  ten  thousand 
men  in  the  engagement,  of  whom  full  three  thousand  died  during  the  retreat  of  nine  miles.  Fifteen 
thousand  Nationals  were  killed,  wounded,  or  made  prisoners.  The  slain  on  the  battle-field  were  soon 
buried,  the  dead  horses  were  burnt,  and  the  hospital-vessels  sent  down  the  Tennessee  by  the  Nationals 
were  crowded  with  the  sick  and  maimed.  Beauregard's  shattered  army  fell  back  to  Corinth,  and  Grant 
was  about  to  pursue  and  capture  it,  when  General  Halleck,  his  superior  in  rank,  who  had  come  up  from 
St.  Louis  and  took  the  supreme  command,  caused  the  impatient  troops  to  loiter  until  the  Confederates, 
recuperated,  were  prepared  for  another  contest. 

Twenty  days  after  the  battle,  Halleck  and  his  army  had  advanced  nine  miles  toward  Corinth;  and  a 
week  later  (May  3)  they  were  near  that  place,  making  vigorous  use  of  pickaxe  and  spade  in  piling  up 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


263 


Ai,  DAVID  It.  POKTI-.K 


264 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


fortifications  for  prosecuting  a  siege.  This  labor  continued  twenty-seven  days  longer,  interrupted  by 
frequent  sorties  from  Corinth,  when  the  Confederates  were  driven  from  their  advanced  batteries,  and 
Halleck  prepared  for  a  sanguinary  conflict  the  next  day.  The  Confederates  had  been  much  strengthened 
by  delay;  but  Beauregard  was  not  disposed  to  fight  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  as  it  was  now  called. 
All  the  night  of  the  2gth  of  May,  the  National  sentinels  had  heard  and  reported  the  unceasing  roar  of 
moving  cars  at  Corinth;  and  at  daybreak,  just  as  Halleck  sent  out  skirmishers  to  "feel  the  enemy,"  the 
earth  was  shaken  by  a  series  of  explosions,  and  dense  columns  of  smoke  rose  above  the  town.  There 
was  no  enemy  to  "feel."  Beauregard  had  evacuated  Corinth  during  the  night,  burnt  and  blown  up 
whatever  of  stores  he  could  not  carry  away,  and  fled,  in  haste,  to  Tupelo,  many  miles  southward  from 
Corinth,  where  he  left  General  Bragg  in  command,  and  retired  to  mineral  springs  in  Alabama,  for  the 
restoration  of  his  impaired  health.  Halleck  took  possession  of  Corinth,  and  was  soon  afterward  called 
to  Washington  to  perform  the  duties  of  General-in-Chief  of  all  the  armies  of  the  Republic.  He  left  General 


Thomas    in    command    at 
enlarged  powers.      General 

When    General    Buell 
energetic   General   Mitchel 
left  the  more  cautious  Buell, 
pushed  on  vigorously.     On 
sixty  miles  from  Nashville, 
There  he  left  the  railway, 
train,  he  crossed  the  State 
Huntsville  on  the  morning 
up  the  railway  at  each  end 
into  the  place.     The  unsus- 
the    horses'    hoofs    in    the 
tants,  wrote  an  eye-witness, 
dow,       exclaiming,       with 
ing    tongue,    'They    come! 
come!'     Men   rushed    into 
women    fainted,    the    children    screamed,    the 
time  a  scene  of  perfect  terror  reigned."     The 
tory  were  seventeen  locomotives,  more  than  a 
a  large  amount  of  supplies  of  every  kind ;  also  one 
By  it  Mitchel  secured  the  control  of  the  Charles- 
from  Tuscumbia  on  the  west  to  Stevenson  on  the 
hundred  miles.     He  also  won  the  control  of  the 
the   same   distance.      Mitchell    met    with    no 

This  work  was  accomplished  without  the 
when  Corinth  fell  into  the  possession  of  the  Na- 
June,  all  Kentucky,  western  and  middle  Ten- 
sissippi  and  northern  Alabama,  were  recovered 
was  confidently  expected  that  East  Tennessee 


GENERAL  R.  S.  EWHLI. 
C.  S.  A. 


Corinth,  and  General  Grant  of  his  old  army,  with 
Buell  was  ordered  to  join  Grant, 
moved  from  Nashville  to  meet  Grant,  he  sent  the 
southward,  as  we  have  observed.  After  Mitchel 
his  was  a  sort  of  independent  command,  and  he 
the  4th  of  April,  he  was  at  Shelby ville,  Tennessee, 
where  he  established  a  depository  of  supplies, 
and  after  rapid  marches  with  a  light  supply- 
line  on  the  roth  into  Alabama,  and  was  in  front  of 
of  the  nth  before  the  dawn.  Fatigue  parties  tore 
of  the  town,  while  the  cavalry  marched  directly 
picious  sleepers  were  awakened  by  the  clatter  of 
streets.  The  surprise  was  complete.  The  inhabi- 
"  flocked  to  door  and  win- 
blanched  cheek  and  falter- 
they  come!  the  Yankees 
the  streets  half-dressed,  the 
darkies  laughed,  and  for  a 
spoils  of  this  bloodless  vic- 
hundred  passenger  cars,  and 
hundred  and  sixty  prisoners, 
ton  and  Memphis  Railway 
east,  a  distance  of  about  one 
Tennessee  River  for  about 
resistance. 

less  of  a  single  man;  and 
tionals  at  the  beginning  of 
nessee,  and  northern  Mis- 
from  the  Confederates.  It 
would  be  immediately  re- 
General  Buell,  who  had  now 


GENERAL  EDW.   ].    JOHNSTON 
C.  S.  A. 


leased  from  the  power  of  the  insurgents;  but 
joined  Mitchel,  would  not  listen  to  the  earnest  entreaties  of  that  officer,  to  add  that  loyal  and  sorely 
oppressed  region  to  the  emancipated  territory.  The  way  had  been  prepared  by  General  Negley  and 
others.  Negley  had  climbed  over  the  almost  impassable  mountains  northeast  of  Stevenson,  driven  the 
Confederates  from  Jasper  (June  7),  and  appeared  on  the  Tennessee  River  opposite  Chattanooga.  He 
needed  only  a  little  help  to  enable  him  to  seize  and  hold  that  key  to  East  Tennessee  and  Northern  Georgia. 
The  help  was  refused  by  General  Buell.  When,  at  the  middle  of  June,  the  East  Tennesseeans  saw  the 
insurgents  evacuate  Cumberland  Gap,  voluntarily,  they  surely  expected  the  long-hoped-for  deliverance, 
by  the  advent  of  National  troops;  but  Buell  refused  to  walk  in  at  that  open  door.  That  cautious  leader 
and  the  fiery  Mitchel  could  not  work  in  harmony,  and  the  latter  was  now  transferred  to  another  field 
of  duty. 

Mitchel  had  performed  important  services  for  the  National  cause  by  the  exercise  of  judicious  audacity. 
He  smote  so  swiftly  and  effectually,  that  he  appalled  his  enemies;  and  one  of  the  most  daring  enterprises 
undertaken  during  the  war  was  put  in  motion  by  that  general.  It  was  an  effort  to  break  up  railway 
communication  between  Chattanooga  and  Atlanta.  For  this  purpose  he  employed  J.  J.  Andrews,  who 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


265 


HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC  IN  FRONT  OF  YORKTOWN 


GENERALS  STONEMAN,  NAGI.EE  AND  OTHER  OFFICERS  AT  HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC 


266 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


had  been  in  the  secret  service  of  General  Buell.  'With  twenty-two  picked  men  Andrews  walked  to 
Marietta  in  the  guise  of  Confederate  citizens  of  Kentucky  seeking  in  Georgia  freedom  from  persecution. 
At  Marietta  they  took  the  cars  for  a  station  not  far  from  the  foot  of  the  Great  Kenesaw  Mountain,  and 
there,  while  the  conductor  and  engineer  were  at  breakfast,  they  uncoupled  the  engine,  tender  and  a 
box-car,  from  the  passenger  train,  and  started  up  the  road  at  full  speed,  answering  questions  where  they 
were  compelled  to  stop  by  saying  they  were  conveying  powder  to  Beauregard.  They  had  passed  several 
trains  before  they  began  their  destructive  work.  Then  the  next  train  that  reached  the  broken  spot 
had  its  engine  reversed  and  became  a  pursuer.  Onward  they  sped  with  the  speed  of  a  gale,  passing 
other  trains,  when,  at  an  important  curve  in  the  road,  after  destroying  the  track,  Andrews  said, 
exultingly,  "  Only  one  more  train  to  pass,  boys,  and  then  we  will  put  our  engine  to  full  speed,  burn  the 


bridges  after  us,  dash 
and  on  to  Mitchel,  at 
The  exciting  chase 
The  pursued,  having 
pursuers,  were  fleetest; 
lost  in  stopping  to  cut 
up  the  track,  that  at 
were  prevented  from 
suers  were  close  upon 
lubricating  oil  became 
was  the  speed  of  the  en- 
journals  on  which  the 
melted.  Fuel  failing, 
pelled  to  leave  their 
from  Chattanooga, 
tangled  woods  of  Chick- 
man-hunt  was  organ- 
passes  were  picketed ; 
men  and  foot-soldiers, 


MAJOR-GENERAL  D.  M.  PRENTISS 
GENERAL  S.  R.  CURTIS  GENERAL  J.  B.  CARR 


through  Chattanooga, 
Huntsville." 
continued  many  miles, 
less  burden  than  the 
but  so  much  time  was 
telegraph  wires  and  tear 
length  the  pursued 
doing  either,  for  the  pur- 
them.  Finally  their 
exhausted ;  and  such 
gines  that  the  brass 
axles  revolved  were 
the  fugitives  were  corn- 
conveyance  fifteen  miles 
They  took  refuge  in  the 
amauga  Creek.  A  great 
ized.  The  mountain 
and  thousands  of  horse- 
with  several  blood 


hounds,  scoured  the  country  in  all  directions.  The  whole  party  were  finally  captured,  and  thus  ended 
one  of  the  most  exciting  events  in  human  history.  The  sequel  was  that  Andrews  and  seven  of  his 
companions  were  hanged.  To  each  of  the  survivors  of  that  daring  raid,  the  Secretary  of  War  presented 
a  bronze  medal,  in  token  of  approval. 

While  these  events  were  occurring  in  the  interior  of  Tennessee,  Commodore  Foote  had  been  busy 
on  the  Mississippi  River.  He  went  down  that  stream  from  Island  Number  Ten,  with  his  armed  vessels, 
and  transports  bearing  Pope's  army,  to  attempt  the  capture  of  Memphis,  but  was  confronted  at  the  first 
Chickasaw  Bluffs,  eighty  miles  above  that  city,  by  a  Confederate  flotilla  under  Captain  Hollins,  and 
three  thousand  troops  under  General  Jeff.  Thompson,  who  occupied  a  military  work  on  the  bluff, 
called  Fort  Pillow,  then  in  command  of  General  Villepigue,  an  accomplished  engineer.  Foote  began 
an  attack  on  the  i4th;  but  General  Pope's  troops,  who  had  landed  on  the  Arkansas  shore,  could  not 
co-operate  because  the  country  wyas  flooded.  Pope  was  soon  called  by  Halleck  to  Shiloh,  and  the  navy 
was  left  to  do  the  best  it  could.  Foote  was  soon  obliged  to  turn  over  the  command  to  Captain  C.  H. 
Davis,  on  account  of  the  painfulness  of  his  foot  from  a  wound  received  at  Fort  Donelson. 

On  the  loth  of  May,  Hollins,  who  had  reorganized  his  flotilla,  attacked  Foote,  and  was  assisted  by 
the  heavy  guns  of  Fort  Pillow,  but  the  Confederate  vessels  were  repulsed.  For  a  fortnight  afterward 
the  belligerent  fleets  watched  each  other,  when  a  "ram"  squadron,  prepared  by  Colonel  Charles  Ellet, 
Jr.  (the  builder  of  the  Niagara  Suspension  Bridge),  joined  Foote's  flotilla,  and  prepared  to  attack  the  foe. 
The  Confederates,  having  heard  of  their  disaster  at  Corinth,  fled  precipitately  to  Memphis  on  the  4th 
of  June.  Two  days  afterward  the  National  flotilla  won  a  victory  over  the  Confederate  squadron  in  front 
of  that  city,  when  Memphis  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  Union  forces,  and  it  was  speedily  occupied 
by  troops  commanded  by  General  Lewis  Wallace.  For  a  short  time  after  these  events,  there  was  a  lull 
in  the  storm  of  war  westward  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains. 

We  left  General  Burnside  and  Commodore  Rowan  in  Albemarle  Sound  after  the  capture  of  Roanoke 
Island  and  Elizabeth  City  and  vicinity,  preparing  to  make  other  important  movements  on  the  coast  of 
North  Carolina.  They  appeared  in  the  Neuse  River,  eighteen  miles  below  New  Berne,  on  the  evening 
of  the  i2th  of  March  (1862);  and  early  the  next  morning  National  troops  led  by  Generals  Foster,  Reno 
and  Parke,  about  fifteen  thousand  strong,  were  landed  and  marched  against  the  defences  of  that  town. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


267 


1-  /     ' '  ' 

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MAP    01-    YOKKTOWN    AND    VICINITY 


268 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  G.  H.  THOMAS 


The  Confederates,  under  General  Branch,  who  were  inferior  in  numbers,  occupied  a  strongly  intrenched 
position.  The  Nationals  moved  against  them  at  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  i_|.th.  The  Conlcderates 
sustained  a  severe  battle  with  great  bravery  and  skill  until,  closely  pressed  on  all  sides  by  superior  numbers, 

they  broke,  and  fled  across  the  Trent  closely  pursued  by  Foster.  They 
burned  the  bridges  behind  them,  and  so  escaped,  leaving  their  killed  and 
wounded  and  two  hundred  men,  who  were  made  prisoners.  The  Na 
tionals  then  took  possession  of  New  Berne;  when  General  Parke  pro 
ceeded  to  capture  Fort  Macon,  on  a  point  of  Bogue  Island  near  the 
entrance  to  Beaufort  harbor.  In  this  enterprise  the  National  troops 
were  assisted  by  gunboats  controlled  by  Commander  Samuel  Lockwood. 
The  garrison  made  but  slight  resistance,  and  on  the  2  5th  of  April,  it  was 
surrendered.  At  the  same  time  the  National  troops  under  General  Reno 
were  quietly  taking  possession  of  important  places  on  the  coast  of  North 
Carolina,  and  threatening  Norfolk  in  the  rear.  Plymouth,  Winton  and 
Washington  were  occupied  by  the  National  forces.  Garrisons  for  these 
places  so  widely  dispersed  Burnside's  troops,  that  he  could  no  longer  make 
aggressive  movements,  and  he  remained  quietly  in  his  department  until 
he  was  summoned  to  Fortress  Monroe  at  the  middle  of  July.  He  held 
almost  undisputed  sway  over  the  coast  region  from  the  Dismal  Swamp 
to  the  Cape  Fear  River. 

At  the  close  of  1861,  the  National  authority  (as  we  have  observed) 
was  supreme  along  the  Southern  coast  from  Warsaw  Sound,  below  the 
Savannah  River,  to  the  North  Edisto  well  up  toward  Charleston.  At  the 

close  of  the  year,  General  T.  W.  Sherman,  in  command  in  that  region,  directed  his  chief  engineer,  General 
Q.  A.  Gillmore,  to  reconnoitre  Fort  Pulaski,  and  report  upon  the  feasibility  of  a  bombardment  of  it.  It 
was  done,  and  Gillmore  reported  that  it  might  be  reduced  by  planting  batteries  of  rifled  guns  and  mortars 
on  Big  Tybee  Island  southeast  of  Cockspur  Island,  on  which  the  fort  stood.  Explorations  were  made  to 
discover  some  channel  by  which  gunboats  might  get  in  the  rear  of  the  fort,  and  a  New  York  regiment  was 
sent  to  occupy  Big  Tybee  Island.  A  channel  was  found,  and  land  troops  under  General  Viele,  borne 
by  gunboats  commanded  by  Captain  John  Rodgers,  went  through  it  to  reconnoitre.  Another  expedition 
composed  of  land  troops  under  General  Wright,  and  gunboats  commanded  by  Fleet-Captain  Davis,  were 
sent  by  Admiral  Dupont  up  to  the  Savannah  River,  by  way  of  Warsaw  Sound,  Wilmington  River  and 
St.  Augustine  Creek,  in  rear  of  Fort  Pulaski.  The  gunboats  of  Rodgers  and  Davis  had  a  skirmish  with 
Tattnall's  "mosquito"  fleet;  and  having  accomplished  their  object,  the  whole  National  force  returned 
to  Hilton  Head,  to  the  great  relief  of  the  inhabitants  of  Savannah,  who  supposed  the  expedition  was 
abandoned.  Soon  afterward,  however,  the  Nationals  made  a  lodgement  on  Jones's  Island,  and  erected 
a  heavy  battery  at  Venus's  point,  also  a  smaller  one  on  Bird  Island,  and  so  effectually  closed  the  Savannah 
River  in  the  rear  of  Fort  Pulaski.  It  was  absolutely  blockaded  near  the  close  of  February  (1862);  and 
on  the  8th  of  March  General  David  Hunter  arrived  as  successor  of  General 
Sherman  in  command  of  the  Department  of  the  South,  and  he  and  Com 
modore  Dupont,  who  was  in  command  of  the  navy  on  that  coast,  acted 
in  concert. 

With  great  skill  General  Gillmore  had  planted  his  siege-guns  on  Big 
Tybee  Island  that  commanded  the  fort;  and  on  the  loth  of  April  (1862), 
after  Hunter  had  demanded  its  surrender  and  the  commander  of  the  for 
tress  had  refused  compliance,  thirty-six  heavy  rifled  cannons  and  mortars 
were  opened  upon  it  under  the  direction  of  Generals  Gillmore  and  Viele. 
It  was  gallantly  defended  until  the  i2th,  when  it  was  so  battered  that 
it  was  untenable,  and  it  was  surrendered.  This  was  an  important  vic 
tory,  for  it  enabled  the  Nationals  to  close  the  port  of  Savannah  against 
the  blockade-runners,  which  had  become  numerous  and  bold  all  along 
our  coast. 

In  the  meantime  Commodore  Dupont  and  General  Wright  had 
been  making  easy  conquests  on  the  coast  of  Florida.  Early  in  February 
they  captured  Fort  Clinch,  on  Amelia  Island,  which  the  Confederates 
had  seized,  and  drove  the  insurgents  from  Fernandina.  The  Confed 
erates  speedily  abandoned  their  other  forts  along  the  coast  of  Florida  GENERAL  DUN  C.  BUELL 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


269 


GENERAL  MEADE  AND  OTHER  GENERALS  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC 


MILITARY  COMMISSION 


270 


A    II  1ST  OR  Y    OF    Til  E    C I  V I L    WA  R 


and  Georgia,  which  the  Nationals  took  possession  of;  and  a  flotilla  of  gunboats  and  transports,  bearing 
land  troops  under  Lieutenant  T.  H.  Stevens,  went  up  the  St.  John's  River  and  captured  Jacksonville  on 
the  nth  of  March.  St.  Augustine  was  taken  possession  of  at  about  the  same  time  by  Commander  C.  P. 
Rodgers,  and  the  alarmed  Confederates  abandoned  Pensacola  and  all  their  fortifications  on  the  main 
opposite  Fort  Pickens.  When  Dupont  returned  to  Port  Royal,  he  found  General  T.  W.  Sherman  in 
possession  of  Edisto  Island ;  and  before  the  first  anniversary  of  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter,  the  whole 
coast  from  Cape  Hatteras  to  Perdido  Bay  west  of  Fort  Pickens,  excepting  at  Charleston  and  its  immediate 
vicinity,  had  been  abandoned  by  the  Confederates. 

At  the  beginning  of  1862  the  National  Government  had  determined  to  repossess  itself  of  the  important 
positions  of  Mobile,  New  Orleans,  Baton  Rouge  and  Galveston,  by  which  it  might  maintain  the  National 


supremacy  over  the 
attempt  the  occupancy 
jamin  F.  Butler  was 
the  Department  of  the 
these  points,  and  com- 
of  proposed  operations, 
operate  with  the  navy 
prise;  and  as  the  first 
was  New  Orleans,  he 
the  coast  of  Mississippi, 
land  and  naval  forces, 
at  Fortress  Monroe, 
ness,  he  visited  Wash- 
the  President,  he  said: 
take  New  Orleans  or  you 
Secretary  Stanton  said: 
New  Orleans  is  made 
Butler  embarked  at 
his  wife,  his  staff,  and 
troops,  in  the  magnifi- 


GENF.RAL  W.  XELSOX 

GENERAL  T.  L.  CRITTENDEN  GENERAL  A.  M.  MITCHELL 

GENERAL  A.  G.  McCooK 


Lower  Mississippi,  and 
of  Texas.  General  Ben- 
placed  in  command  of 
Gulf,  which  included 
prised  the  whole  theatre 
He  was  directed  to  co 
in  the  important  enter- 
object  of  the  expedition 
suggested  Ship  Island,  off 
as  a  rendezvous  for  the 
He  gathered  his  troops 
When  all  was  in  readi- 
ington,  and  on  leaving 
"Good-bye;  we  shall 
will  never  see  me  again." 
"The  man,  who  takes 
a  lieutenant-general." 
Fortress  Monroe,  with 
about  fourteen  thousand 


cent  steamship  Missis 
sippi.  He  suffered  vexatious  delays  at  Port  Royal;  and  it  was  thirty  days  before  he  reached  Ship 
Island,  a  desolate  sand-bar,  without  a  house;  and  only  a  few  charred  boards  could  be  found  to  make  a 
shanty  for  the  shelter  of  Mrs.  Butler.  General  Phelps  was  there  with  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut 
troops,  and  had  strengthened  an  unfinished  fort  on  the  Island.  Admiral  Farragut  had  also  arrived  with 
a  naval  force;  also  a  fleet  of  bomb-vessels  commanded  by  Commodore  David  D.  Porter,  prepared  to 
co-operate  with  the  land  and  naval  forces. 

At  a  short  bend  in  the  Mississippi  River,  seventy-six  miles  from  its  passage  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  were 
two  forts — Jackson  and  St.  Philip.  These,  with  some  fortifications  above  and  obstructions  in  the  river 
below,  seemed  to  the  Confederates  to  make  the  stream  absolutely  impassable  by  vessels  of  an  enemy; 
and  they  believed  New  Orleans,  where  there  were  ten  thousand  insurgent  troops  under  General  Mansfield 
Lovell  (a  former  politician  of  New  York),  to  be  perfectly  safe  from  invasion.  The  people  continued, 
their  occupations,  as  usual;  and  one  of  the  journals  said:  "Our  only  fear  is,  that  the  northern  invaders 
may  not  appear.  We  have  made  such  extensive  preparations  to  receive  them  that  it  wrere  vexation  if 
their  invincible  armada  escapes  the  fate  we  have  in  store  for  it."  The  test  was  soon  made. 

General  Butler  and  the  two  naval  commanders  arranged  a  plan  for  the  capture  of  New  Orleans, 
which  comprehended  an  attack  on  the  forts  below  the  city,  first,  by  Porter's  bomb-vessels,  Farragut 
with  his  stronger  vessels  remaining  as  a  reserve  until  the  guns  of  the  fort  should  be  silenced.  Failing 
in  this,  Farragut  was  to  attempt  to  run  by  the  forts,  clear  the  river  of  Confederate  vessels,  isolate  the 
forts  and  cut  off  their  supplies  and  supports.  Then  General  Butler  was  to  land  his  troops  in  the  rear 
of  Fort  St.  Philip  (the  weaker  one),  and  attempt  to. carry  it  by  assault.  This  done,  the  land  and  naval 
forces  were  to  press  on  toward  New  Orleans.  The  general  command  of  the  river  defences  of  the  Confed 
erates  was  intrusted  to  General  J.  K.  Duncan,  formerly  an  office-holder  in  New  York. 

On  the  1 7th  of  April  the  fleets  of  Farragut  and  Porter  were  in  the  river,  with  the  former  as  chief 
commander  of  the  naval  forces ;  and  Butler,  with  about  nine  thousand  troops,  was  at  the  Southwest  Pass. 
The  fleets  comprised  forty-seven  armed  vessels,  and  these,  with  transports  bearing  troops,  went  up  the 
river,  Porter's  mortar-boats  leading.  When  these  approached  the  forts,  their  hulls  were  besmeared  with 
Mississippi  mud ;  and  the  masts,  yards  and  rigging  were  so  covered  with  the  branches  of  trees,  that  under 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


271 


MISSISSIPPI  KIVKK  IM.KKT  OF  IKOX  CI.AD  GUNBOATS 


272 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


this  disguise  they  were  enabled  to  take  a  position  near  the  forts  unsuspected.  As  when  "Birnam 
Wood"  moved  "toward  Dunsinane,"  the  stratagem  was  successful.  The  Mississippi  was  full  to  the 
brim;  and  a  boom  and  other  obstructions  near  Fort  Jackson  were  swept  away  by  the  flood. 

A  battle  was  begun  on  the  morning  of  the  i8th  (April,  1862),  by  a 
shot  from  Fort  Jackson.     Porter's  mortar-boats  responded.     The  latter 
were  supported  by  the  gunboats;    but  after  pounding  the  fortifications 
several  days,  Farragut,  satisfied  that  he  could  not  reduce  them,  prepared 
to  run  by  them  in  the  night  of  the  23d.     The  mortar-boats  led  the  way, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  navy  followed,  gallantly  breasting  the  swift -flowing 
current  that  went  over  the  river  banks  and  flooded  every  bayou.     The 
perilous  passage  of  the  forts  was  begun  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.     The 
mortar-boats  were  to  cover  the  movement  of  the  gunboats.     Farragut, 
in  his  flag-ship  Hartford,  with  two  other  strong  vessels,  was  destined 
to  keep  near  the  right  bank  of  the  river  and  fight  Fort  Jackson ; 
while  Captain  Theodorus  Bailey,  commanding  eight  gunboat; 
was  to  keep  closely  to  the  eastern  bank  and  fight  Fort  St. 
Philip.     To  Captain  Bell  was  assigned  the  duty  of  attacking 
the  Confederate  fleet  above  the  forts,  with  six  gunboats. 

The    night    was    intensely   dark,   and   a    tremendous 
battle  was  waged  between  the  mortar-boats  and  the  forts. 
The  gunboats  as  they  came   up  gave   the   latter   heavy 
broadsides  of  grape  and   canister   shot,    which   drove  the 
garrison  from  their  barbette  guns.     The  scene  soon  became 
rible.     Fire-rafts,   sent   down  by  the  Confederates,  blazed 
"rams  "  plunged  against  the  National  vessels  with  terrible  force 
(Farragut's  flag-ship),  which  was  a  wooden  vessel,  was  set  < 
were  soon  extinguished.      The  fleet  had  scarcely  passed  the  forts 
by  a  large  flotilla  of  "rams"  and  gunboats.     A  grand  and  awful 
noise  of  twenty  mortars  and  two  hundred  and  sixty  great  guns, 
made  a  terrific   sound.      The   explosion   of   shells   that   struck 


GENERAL 
SCHTYLER 
HAMILTON 


GENERAL 
G.  W.  CULLUM 


grand  and  ter- 
fearfully,    and 
The  Hartford 
fire,  but  the  flames 
when  it  was  assailed 
scene  followed.     The 
afloat  and   ashore, 
deep  in  the  oozy 

ground,  shook  the  land  and  water  like  an  earthquake.  "Combine,"  wrote  an  eye-witness,  "all  that  you 
ever  heard  of  thunder,  and  add  to  it  all  that  you  have  ever  seen  of  lightning,  and  you  have,  perhaps,  a 
conception  of  the  scene,"  in  the  darkness  before  daylight. 

In  that  fearful  struggle,  the  Nationals  were  victorious.     From  the  fore-rigging  of  his  ship  Farragut 
had  watched  the  combat  through  his  night-glass,  and  conducted  it  as  far  as  possible.     Within  the  space 

of  half  an  hour  after  the  National  vessels  had  left  their  anchorage,  the 
forts  were  passed,  the  great  struggle  had  occurred,  and  eleven  vessels — 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  Confederate  flotilla — were  destroyed.  For  a 
while  Captain  Bailey  sustained  the  fight  with  the  Confederate  flotilla 
almost  unsupported,  when  Captain  Boggs  came  to  his  assistance  writh 
the  gunboat  Varuna,  which  immediately  became  the  chief  object  of  the 
wrath  of  the  enemy.  In  his  report  Captain  Boggs  said  that  immediately 
after  passing  the  forts,  he  found  himself  "amid  a  nest  of  rebel  steamers." 
The  Varuna  rushed  in  among  them  (for  the  river  was  too  narrow  to 
permit  her  to  avoid  them),  and  fired  broadsides  right  and  left  as  she 
passed.  The  first  one  that  received  her  fire  was  crowded  with  troops. 
Its  boiler  was  exploded,  and  the  vessel  was  run  ashore.  The  Varuna  ran 
three  other  gunboats  ashore,  and  had  desperate  struggles  with  the  ' '  rams, " 
until,  badly  wounded,  she  began  to  sink,  when  her  commander  tied  her 
bow  to  trees  and  took  out  her  crew  and  the  wounded,  while  his  latest 
antagonist  was  burning  to  the  water's  edge.  So  ended  one  of  the  fiercest 
combats  of  the  war.  It  was  "short,  sharp,  and  decisive."  In  that 
struggle  on  the  bosom  of  the  river,  the  Nationals  lost  only  thirty  killed 
and  not  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  wounded.  The  fleet, 
after  the  fight,  rendezvoused  at  Quarantine,  just  above  Fort  St.  Philip, 
and  that  was  the  first  public  property  "repossessed  "  by  the  Government, 
GENERAL  W.  H.  L.  WALLACE  in  Louisiana. 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


273 


COMMANDER  WILLIAM  JEFFRIES  AND  OFFICERS  OF  MONITOR 


CREW  ON  DECK  OF  THE  ORIGINAL  MONITOR 


•-  T~  f   *^;"  •'-»'    '  ^..-1-      »"" 

-Jr-jfr^^^    .      .  •  _»»  T*"^*  .      ^ 


SMOKE  STACK  OF  CONFEDERATE  RAM  RIDDLED  BY  SHOTS 


274 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


COMMANDER  FRANKLIN  BTCHANAN, 

C.  S.  N.,  COMMANDING  THE 

"MEBRIMAC" 


While  the  battle  was  raging  near  the  forts,  General  Butler  landed  his  troops,  and  in  small  boats 
they  went  through  narrow  and  shallow  bayous  in  the  rear  of  Fort  St.  Philip.  The  alarmed  garrison 
mutinied,  spiked  the  guns,  and  sallying  out  surrendered  to  Butler's  pickets,  declaring  that  they  had  been 

pressed  into  the  service,  and  would  fight  no  more.  Porter  had  continued 
to  bombard  Fort  Jackson,  and  after  the  fall  of  Fort  St.  Philip,  it  was 
surrendered  to  that  officer  with  nearly  one  thousand  men. 

Meanwhile  Farragut  (who  had  thirteen  vessels  in  safety  above  the 
forts)  had  gone  up  to  New  Orleans  with  his  fleet,  where  a  fearful  panic 
prevailed,  for  the  inhabitants  had  heard  of  the  disasters  below.  Drums 
were  beating;  soldiers  were  seen  hurrying  to  and  fro;  merchants  had 
fled  from  their  stores;  women  without  bonnets  and  brandishing  pistols 
were  seen  in  the  streets  crying,  ' '  Burn  the  city !  Burn  the  city !  Never 
mind  us!  Burn  the  city !"  Military  officers  impressed  vehicles  into  the 
service  of  carrying  cotton  to  the  levees  to  be  burned;  and  specie  to  the 
amount  of  $4,000,000  was  sent  out  of  the  city  by  railway.  Millions 
worth  of  other  property,  with  a  large  number  of  citizens,  had  left  the 
doomed  town,  among  them  General  Twiggs,  who  betrayed  his  troops  in 
Texas.  Like  Floyd,  he  feared  the  wrath  of  his  injured  Government,  and 
fled,  leaving  behind  him  the  two  swords  which  had  been  awarded  him  for 
gallantry  in  Mexico,  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  invaders.  And  when, 
on  the  2$th  of  April,  1862,  Farragut  approached  the  city  with  nine  vessels, 
General  Lovell  and  his  troops  fled,  the  torch  was  applied  to  the  cotton 
on  the  levee,  and  along  the  river  front  for  miles  a  sheet  of  roaring  flames 
burst  forth.  In  that  conflagration  fifteen  thousand  bales  of  cotton,  a 
dozen  large  ships  and  as  many  fine  steamboats,  with  unfinished  gunboats  and  other  large  vessels,  were 
burnt.  The  value  of  cotton,  sugar,  and  other  products  destroyed  was  immense.  The  citizens  were  held 
in  durance  by  Farragut's  guns,  until  the  arrival  of  General  Butler  on  the  first  of  May,  when  the  latter 
landed  with  his  troops,  took  formal  possession  of  the  defenceless  town,  and  made  his  headquarters  at  the 
St.  Charles  hotel.  Butler  ruled  New  Orleans  with  the  rigor  of  martial  law.  Informed  that  a  man  named 
Mumford  had  pulled  down  the  National  flag  where  Farragut  had  unfurled  it  over  the  Mint,  and  had 
treated  it  in  derision,  Butler  caused  his  arrest  and  his  immediate  trial  on  a  charge  of  treason.  He  was 
convicted  and  hanged;  the  only  man  who  has  ever  suffered  death  for  that  crime  since  the  establishment 
of  our  National  Government. 

The  loss  of  New  Orleans  was  a  terrible  blow  for  the  Confederates.  "It  annihilated  us  in  Louisiana," 
wrote  a  Confederate  historian,  "diminished  our  resources  and  supplies  by  the  loss  of  one  of  the  greatest 
grain  and  cattle  countries  within  the  limits  of  the  Confederacy,  gave  to  the  enemy  the  Mississippi  River 
with  all  its  means  of  navigation  for  a  base  of  operations,  and  finally  led,  by  plain  and  irresistible  con 
clusions,  to  our  virtual  abandonment  of  the  great  and  fruitful  valley  of 
the  Mississippi." 

The  loss  of  New  Orleans  produced  the  greatest  irritation  in  the 
public  mind  throughout  the  Confederacy,  and  the  rigor  of  Butler's  rule 
there  excited  the  most  violent  personal  hatred  of  the  general.  When 
he  was  about  to  leave  New  Orleans,  Jefferson  Davis,  the  chief  of  the 
Confederacy,  issued  a  proclamation  in  which  he  pronounced  Butler  to 
be  "a  felon  deserving  of  capital  punishment";  and  he  ordered  that  he 
should  not  be  "treated  simply  as  a  public  enemy  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America,  but  as  an  outlaw,  and  common  enemy  of  mankind"; 
and  that,  "in  the  event  of  his  capture,  the  officer  in  command  of  the 
capturing  force,  do  cause  him  to  be  immediately  executed,  by  hanging." 
He  also  ordered  that  the  same  treatment  should  be  awarded  to  all 
commissioned  officers  serving  under  Butler.  A  "Georgian"  offered  a 
reward  of  $10,000  "for  the  infamous  Butler."  Richard  Yeadon,  a 
prominent  citizen  of  Charleston,  publicly  offered  a  reward  of  $10,000 
"for  the  capture  and  delivery  of  the  said  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  dead 
or  alive,  to  any  Confederate  authority."  A  "Daughter  of  South 
Carolina,"  in  a  letter  to  the  Charleston  Courier,  said:  "I  propose  to  COMMANDER  JOHN  L.  WORDEN,  U.S.N., 
spin  the  thread  to  make  the  cord  to  execute  the  order  of  our  noble  COMMANDING  THE  "MONITOR" 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


275 


D 

M 


276 


A    PI  I  STORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


President  Davis,  when  old  Butler  is  caught;  and  my  daughter  asks  that  she  may  be  allowed  to  adjust  it 
around  his  neck."     And  Paul  R.  Hayne,  a  South  Carolina  poet,  wrote: 

"Yes!  but  there  is  one  who  shall  not  die 

In  battle  harness!     One  for  whom 
Lurks  in  the  darkness  silently 

Another  and  a  sterner  doom ! 
A  warrior's  end  should  crown  the  brave; 
For  him,  swift  cord  and  felon's  grave!" 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

Army  of  the  Potomac — Armies  Ordered  to  Move — McClellan's  Plan  of  Operations — Evacuation  of  Manassas — "Promenade"  of  the 
Union  Army — McClellan  Relieved — The  "Monitor"  and  "Merrimac" — Events  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley — Battle  at  Kernstown — 
Army  of  the  Potomac  on  the  Peninsula — Siege  of  Yorktown — Magruder's  Strategy — Battle  at  Williamsburg — Tardy  Movements — 
McClellan  and  the  President — Capture  of  Norfolk — Military  Events  in  the  Valley — Battles  at  Winchester,  Cross  Keys  and  Port 
Republic — The  "White  House" — On  the  Chickahominy — Confederate  Government  Rebuked — Fatal  Hesitation — Battle  at  Fair 
Oaks — Stuart's  Raid. 

WHILE  great  activity  prevailed  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
under  General  McClellan,  had  been  lying  almost  inactive  much  of  the  time,  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  National  capital.  It  had,  however,  been  growing  in  numbers  and  discipline; 
and  early  in  1862,  it  was  composed  of  full  two  hundred  thousand  men.  The  battles  of  Ball's 
Bluff  and  Drainsville,  already  mentioned,  had  prevented  its  rusting  into  absolute  immobility; 
and  the  troops  were  gladdened,  from  time  to  time,  by  promises  of  an  immediate  advance 
upon  the  Confederates  at  Manassas.  On  account  of  that  expectation,  very  little  had  been  done  toward 
placing  the  troops  in  winter  quarters,  and  much 
suffering  and  discontent  were  the  consequence. 
Efforts  were  made  by  many  officers  to  break  the 
monotony  of  camp-life ;  and  the  Secretary  of  War 
(Mr.  Cameron) permitted  the  musical  Hutchinson 
family  to  visit  the  camps  and  sing  their  simple  and 
stirring  songs.  They  were  diffusing  sunshine 
through  the  gloom  of  the  army  by  delighting 
crowds  of  soldiers  who  listened  to  their  sweet 
melody,  when  their  career  was  suddenly  checked 
by  the  following  order : 

"By  direction  of  General  McClellan,  the  per 
mit  given  to  the  'Hutchinson  Family'  to  sing  in 
the  camps,  and  their  pass  to  cross  the  Potomac, 
are  revoked,  and  they  will  not  be  allowed  to  sing 
to  the  troops." 

Why  not5  Because  a  few  of  the  officers  of 
the  army  were  afraid  of  offending  the  confederated  GENERAL  J.  L.  RENO  GENERAL  J.  G.  FOSTER 

slaveholders,  and  the  Hutchinsons  had  been  guilty 

of  singing  Whittier's  stirring  song,  then  lately  written,  to  the  tune  of  Luther's  Hymn,  "Ein  feste  burg 
ist  unser  Gott,"  in  which,  among  eight  similar  verses,  was  the  following: 

"What  gives  the  wheat-fields  blades  of  steel? 

What  points  the  rebel  cannon? 
What  sets  the  roaring  rabble's  heel 
On  th'  old  star-spangled  pennon? 

What  breaks  th'  oath 
Of  th'  men  o'  th'  South? 
What  whets  the  knife 
For  the  Union's  life? 
Hark  to  the  answer:  Slavery." 

On  the  i3th  of  January,  1862,  the  energetic  Edwin  M.  Stanton  succeeded  Simon  Cameron,  as  Secretary 
of  War,  and  infused  new  life  into  the  service.  The  people  had  become  impatient;  and  the  President, 
satisfied  that  longer  delay  was  unnecessary,  issued  a  general  order  on  the  27th  of  January,  in  which  he 
directed  a  simultaneous  forward  movement  of  ' '  all  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States  against 
the  insurgent  forces  on  the  22d  day  of  February  next  ensuing.  This  order  sent  a  thrill  of  joy  through 
the  hearts  of  the  loyal  people,  and  it  was  heightened  when  the  President  ordered  McClellan  to  move 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


277 


ADMIRAL  FARRAGUT  AND  CAPTAIN  DRAYTON  ON  U.  S.  S.  HARTFORD 


GROUP  OF  OFFICERS  ON  DECK  OF  MONITOR  AFTER  A  HUNTING  TRIP.    WHO  CAN  RECOGNIZE  THEM? 


278 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


ADMIRAL  D.  G.  FARRAGUT,  U.  S.  N. 


against  the  inferior  force  of  Confederates  at  Manassas.  Instead  of  obeying,  McClellan  remonstrated, 
and  proposed  to  take  his  army  to  Richmond  by  the  circuitous  route  of  Fortress  Monroe  and  the  Peninsula, 
between  the  York  and  James  rivers,  instead  of  attempting,  with  his  large  and  well-equipped  army,  to  press 

the  Confederates  back  to  their  Capital.  The  President  strongly  urged 
the  trial  of  the  direct  movement,  as  less  expensive  in  time  and  money, 
and  less  perilous  to  the  army ;  but  McClellan  so  steadily  resisted  this  plan, 
that  the  patient  Lincoln  consented  to  submit  the  matter  to  a  council  of 
officers.  They  decided  in  favor  of  McClcllan's  plan  by  a  vote  of  eight 
to  four.  The  President  acquiesced,  but  with  many  misgivings,  which 
the  result  justified.  The  General-in-Chief  had  declared  that  he  intended 
to  wait  for  the  forces  in  the  West  to  gain  victories  before  he  should  move 
upon  Richmond.  Well,  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  not  fairly 
inaugurated  its  campaign  in  the  spring  of  1862,  before  the  active  little 
army  of  General  Grant,  and  the  forces  under  Generals  Pope,  and  Buell, 
and  Mitchel,  and  the  gunboats  of  Foote,  had  accomplished  far  more  in 
the  West  than  McClellan  ever  dreamed  of  being  possible. 

Informed  that  McClellan  (who  would  not  trust  his  commander-in- 
chief  with  his  military  secrets)  intended  to  take  to  the  Peninsula  nearly 
the  entire  Grand  Army  of  the  Potomac,  the  President  issued  an  order  on 
the  8th  of  March,  that  no  change  of  base  in  the  operations  of  that  army 
should  be  made  without  leaving  a  competent  force  for  the  protection  of 
the  Capital,  that  not  more  than  fifty  thousand  troops  should  be  removed 
toward  the  Peninsula  until  the  navigation  of  the  Potomac  from  Washing 
ton  to  the  Chesapeake  should  be  freed  from  the  enemy's  batteries  and  other  obstructions;  that 
the  new  movement  should  begin  as  early  as  the  i8th  of  March  and  that  the  army  and  navy  should 
co-operate  in  an  immediate  attack  upon  the  Confederate  batteries  on  the  Potomac.  Meanwhile 
the  Confederates  at  Manassas  .had  retired,  and  were  falling  back  toward  Richmond,'  in  fear  of 
the  execution  of  the  President's  order  to  move  upon  them  on  the  22 A  of  February.  WThen  McClellan 
heard  of  this  evacuation  he  crossed  the  Potomac  and  ordered  his  whole  army  to  advance,  not,  as  he  after 
ward  explained,  to  pursue  the  alarmed  fugitives  and  to  take  Richmond,  but  to  give  his  own  army  a  little 
active  experience  ' '  preparatory  to  the  campaign ! ' '  After  making  a  grand  display  of  power  at  abandoned 
Manassas  and  a  little  beyond,  the  army  moved  back  to  Alexandria.  This  "promenade"  (as  one  of 
McClellan's  aids,  a  scion  of  the  royal  Orleans  family  of  France  called  it)  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Potomac 
disappointed  the  people  and  disgusted  the  President,  who,  satisfied  that  McClellan's  official  burdens  were 
greater  than  he  could  profitably  bear,  kindly  relieved  him  of  the  chief  care  of  the  armies,  on  the  nth  of 
March,  giving  him  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Potomac. 

At  the  moment  when  the  Confederates  evacuated  Manassas,  a  strange  naval  battle  occurred  in 
Hampton  Roads.  The  insurgents  had  raised  the  Merrimac,  one  of  the  vessels  that  was  sunk  in  the  river 
at  Norfolk,  and  had  converted  it  into  an  iron-clad  warrior,  which  they 
named  Virginia,  commanded  by  Captain  Buchanan  of  our  navy.  On 
the  8th  of  March,  this  vessel  attacked  and  destroyed  the  wooden  sailing 
frigates  Congress  and  Cumberland,  at  the  mouth  of  the  James  River,  and 
it  was  expected  she  would  annihilate  other  transports  and  war  vessels  in 
Hampton  Roads,  the  next  morning.  Anxiously  the  army  and  navy 
officers  in  that  vicinity  passed  the  night  of  the  8th.  There  seemed  to  be 
no  competent  human  agency  near  to  arrest  the  impending  disaster,  when, 
at  a  little  past  midnight,  a  strange  craft  entered  the  Roads,  from  the  sea, 
unheralded  and  unknown.  It  appeared  like  a  floating  platform,  sharp 
at  both  ends,  lying  almost  level  with  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  having 
a  round  tower  made  of  heavy  iron.  This  tower  was  pierced  for  two  guns. 
It  was  twenty  feet  in  diameter,  and  about  ten  feet  in  height  above  the 
platform;  and  it  was  made  to  revolve  so  as  to  bring  its  heavy  guns  within 
to  bear  upon  an  object,  independently  of  the  position  of  the  vessel.  This 
strange  craft  had  been  constructed  at  New  York,  under  the  direction 
of  the  eminent  civil  engineer  and  scientist,  Captain  John  Ericsson,  and 
took  the  name,  so  appropriate  after  its  first  display  of  power,  of  Monitor. 
The  little  vessel  was  in  command  of  Lieutenant  John  L.  Worden  of  CAPTAIN  PKRCIVAL  DRAYTON,  U.  S.  N. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


2/y 


-, 


MISSISSIPPI  FLKKT  OF  IRON  CLAD  GUNIJOATS 


280 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  EGBERT  L.  YIELLE 


the  navy,  and  had  been  towed  to  the  Roads,  after  encountering  a  heavy  gale  and  rolling  sea,  by  a 
steamship.  It  was  her  trial  trip. 

On  his  arrival,  Worden  reported  to  the  flag-officer  in  the  Roads,  and  learning  the  situation  of  affairs 
there,  he  promptly  prepared  to  meet  the  iron-clad  monster  from  Norfolk 
the  next  morning — the  Sabbath.  That  morning  dawned  brightly,  and  in 
the  gray  twilight  (March  o,  1862),  the  Merrimac  was  seen  sweeping  out 
of  the  Elizabeth  River  on  its  destructive  errand.  The  Monitor,  like  a 
little  David,  moved  to  meet  the  Confederate  Goliath,  whose  commander 
looked  with  contempt  upon  the  "floating  cheese-box,"  as  he  called  his 
strange  antagonist ;  but  he  soon  found  it  to  be  a  citadel,  strong  and  well 
filled  with  destructive  energy.  Her  revolving  turret  was  invulner 
able  to  the  heaviest  shot  and  shell  thrown  by  her  antagonist,  and  they 
glanced  from  the  tower  like  pebbles  from  granite.  The  conflict  that 
ensued  was  terrific.  The  ponderous  missiles  hurled  from  the  Monitor 
soon  bruised  the  Merrimac  so  fatally,  that  she  fled  up  to  Norfolk,  her 
wounded  commander  confounded  by  the  energy  of  his  mysterious  little 
antagonist.  The  Merrimac  did  not  venture  out  again.  The  gallant 
Worden,  who  was  regarded  as  the  savior  of  his  country  at  a  critical 
moment,  was  severely  injured  by  having  cement  around  the  "peep-hole" 
in  the  turret,  through  which  he  was  watching  his  antagonist,  thrown 
violently  in  his  face  by  a  heavy  shot  that  struck  that  point.  He  was 
afterwards  rewarded  with  the  commission  of  Admiral. 

The  exploit  of  the  Monitor  seemed  to  promise  safety  to  National 

vessels  navigating  the  James  River;  and  McClellan  prepared  to  transfer  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  to 
Fortress  Monroe,  which  place  he  designed  to  make  a  base  of  supplies  for  his  army  while  marching  on 
Richmond.  To  secure  Washington  city,  it  was  necessary  to  hold  the  Confederates  in  cjieck  in  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,  where  they  were  led  by  the  zealous  and  gallant  "Stonewall  Jackson."  He  had  been 
defeated  by  the  dashing  General  Lander,  at  Blooming  Gap,  on  the  i4th  of  February;  and  when  Johnston 
and  his  Confederates  evacuated  Manassas,  Jackson  had  taken  post  at  Winchester.  General  N.  P.  Banks 
was  then  in  command  of  National  troops  near  Harper's  Ferry,  destined  for  operations  in  the  Shenandoah 
Valley;  and  when  Jackson  went  further  up  that  valley,  he  sent  General  Shields  in  pursuit.  Shields  soon 
turned  back,  and  with  a  considerable  body  of  troops  encamped  at  Winchester.  Jackson,  reinforced, 
came  down  the  valley  in  force,  infantry  and  cavalry,  and  attacked  Shields  at  Kernstown  just  west  of 
Winchester.  Shields  had  only  about  seven  thousand  men,  and  twenty-four  heavy  guns.  The  battle 
that  ensued  (March  22,  1862)  was  short  and  severe.  Shields  was  badly  wounded.  The  Confederates 
were  defeated,  and  fled  up  the  valley  closely  pursued  by  Banks,  who  remained  in  that  region  to  watch 
the  insurgents  while  McClellan  should  move  upon  Richmond. 

It  was  not  until  April  when  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  began  its  campaign  on  the  Virginia  Peninsula. 

General  McClellan  had  transferred  a  larger  part  of  that  army  to  Fortress 
Monroe,  leaving  about  seventy-three  thousand  troops  for  the  defence  of 
Washington.  At  the  beginning  of  April  there  were  one  hundred  and 
twenty-one  thousand  men  at  Fortress  Monroe  (exclusive  of  the  forces 
of  General  Wool),  and  a  large  portion  of  these  now  moved,  in  two  col 
umns,  up  the  Peninsula;  one  column  under  General  Heintzelman  march 
ing  near  the  York  River,  and  another  under  General  Keyes,  near  the 
James  River.  A  comparatively  small  Confederate  force,  under  General 
J.  B.  Magruder,  had  formed  a  fortified  line  across  the  Peninsula,  in  the 
pathway  of  the  Nationals;  and  by  skillful  tricks,  Magruder  so  deceived 
McClellan  as  to  the  number  of  the  Confederates,  that  the  invaders  were 
kept  at  bay,  below  Yorktown,  nearly  a  month,  while  their  leader  was 
calling  for  reinforcements  to  enable  him  to  break  through  the  opposing 
line.  Yorktown  was  regularly  besieged  under  the  direction  of  General 
Fitz  John  Porter,  though  the  number  of  the  Nationals  was  ten  times  as 
large  as  that  of  the  Confederates.  An  attempt  to  carry  the  intrench- 
ments  on  the  Warwick  River,  by  a  division  under  General  Smith  of  Keyes's 
column,  caused  a  sharp  engagement.  It  failed;  and  finally  Magruder 
GENERAL  QUINCY  A.  GH.LMOKE  fell  back  to  a  line  of  strong  intrenchments  in  front  of  Williamsburg, 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


281 


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282 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CAMP  OF  GENERAL  ANDREW  PORTER 
IN  FRONT  OF  YORKTOWN 


where,  on  the  _^d  of  May,  he  wrote,  after  describing  his  strategy:  "Thus,  with  five  thousand  men,  exclusive 
of  the  garrison,  we  stopped  and  held  in  check  over  one  hundred  thousand  of  the  enemy.  ...  I  was 
amused  when  I  saw  McClellan,  with  his  magnificent  army,  begin  to  break  ground  before  miserable 

earthworks  [at  Yorktown]  defended  by  only  eight  thousand  men." 
General  Sumner,  with  the  main  body  of  the  Nationals,  had  pursued 
the  Confederates  to  Williamsburg,  while  McClellan  remained  at 
Yorktown  to  forward  troops  under  General  Franklin  up  the  York 
River,  to  strike  the  left  flank  of  the  insurgents. 

General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  who  had  hastened  to  the 
Peninsula  after  the  evacuation  of  Manassas,  wTas  now  in  chief 
command  in  front  of  McClellan.  Leaving  a  strong  guard  at 
Williamsburg  to  check  the  pursuers,  Johnston  fell  back  with  his 
main  army  toward  Richmond,  with  the  intention  of  fighting  the 
Nationals  when  they  should  approach  that  city.  But  he  was 
compelled  to  fight  sooner  than  he  expected,  for  gallant  and  ener 
getic  men — Generals  Hooker,  Kearney  and  Hancock — attacked 
that  rear-guard  on  the  5th  of  May.  Hard  pressed,  Johnston  sent 
back  a  large  portion  of  his  army  to  help  them.  A  sanguinary 
battle  followed.  Hooker  began  the  assault,  knowing  a  large  body 
of  troops  were  within  supporting  distance,  and  for  full  nine  hours 
he  bore  the  brunt  of  the  battle.  Then  Kearney  came  to  his  aid, 
and,  Hancock  having  turned  the  flank  of  the  Confederates,  the 
latter  precipitately  retreated.  In  this  perilous  movement  they  were  led  by  General  James  Longstreet, 
the  ablest  and  best  of  the  Confederate  leaders  in  the  war. 

On  the  morning  after  the  conflict,  McClellan  came  upon  the  battle-field,  just  as  the  victors  were 
about  to  press  on  in  pursuit  of  the  fugitives,  who  had  left  about  eight  hundred  of  their  wounded  behind 
them  in  their  flight.  He  had  kept  Franklin  so  long  at  Yorktown,  that  the  latter  could  not  flank  the 
Confederates;  and  now,  when  the  latter  were  flying  evidently  in  a  panic,  the  Commander-in-Chief  would 
not  allow  a  pursuit,  but  moved  leisurely  forward  during  the  next  ten  or  twelve  days,  reaching  the  Chicka- 
hominy  River  when  Johnston  was  safely  encamped  beyond  it.  Experts  on  both  sides  declared,  that  had 
a  vigorous  pursuit  followed  the  events  at  Williamsburg,  the  Confederate  army  might  have  been  captured 
or  dispersed.  Franklin  had  secured  a  firm  foothold  at  near  the  head  of  the  York  River,  which  was  made 
the  base  of  supplies  for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  its  earlier  operations  against  Richmond.  In  the 
battle  at  Williamsburg,  the  Nationals  lost  twenty-two  hundred  men,  of  whom  four  hundred  and  fifty-six 
were  killed.  The  Confederate  loss  was  about  one  thousand. 

More  than  a  month,  after  General  McClellan  arrived  at  Fortress  Monroe,  had  been  consumed  in 
moving  only  thirty-six  miles  toward  Richmond,  and  the  army  had  suffered  fearful  losses  by  sickness. 
Very  few  perished  by  the  weapons  of  the  enemy  during  the  month's  siege  of  Yorktown,  "but  disease," 
said  General  J.  G.  Barnard,  McClellan's  chief  engineer,  in  his  report  at 
the  close  of  the  campaign,  "took  a  fearful  hold  of  the  army;  and  toil  and 
hardships,  unredeemed  by  the  excitement  of  combat,  impaired  their 
morale.  We  did  not  carry  with  us  from  Yorktown  so  good  an  army  as 
we  took  there.  Of  the  bitter  fruits  of  that  month  gained  by  the  enemy, 
we  have  tasted  to  our  heart's  content."  Twenty  of  the  thirty  days  that 
the  army  lay  before  Yorktown  were  marked  by  heavy  thunder-showers, 
following  in  quick  succession.  The  troops,  wearied  and  overheated  by 
labor,  lay  on  the  damp  ground  at  night,  and  were  chilled.  "In  a  short 
time,"  wrote  Dr.  Marks,  a  participant,  "the  sick  in  our  hospitals  were 
numbered  by  thousands,  and  many  died  so  suddenly  that  the  disease 
had  all  the  aspects  of  a  plague." 

One  cause  of  McClellan's  tardy  advance  was  his  constant  fear  of  not 
kaving  troops  enough  to  meet  the  energetic  Johnston.  Before  his  army 
left  Washington,  Blenker's  division  of  ten  thousand  men  were  taken  from 
it  to  strengthen  Fremont,  who  was  in  command  of  the  Mountain  Depart 
ment  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge;  and  soon  afterward  McDowell's  army 
corps  were  detached  from  McClellan's  immediate  command,  and  its 
leader  instructed  to  report  directly  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  McDowell 


GENERAL  HORATIO  G.  WRIGHT 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


283 


OLD  CITY  HALL,  NEW  ORLEANS,  WHERE  THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE     GENERAL  BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER'S  HEADQUARTERS  AT  NEW  ORLEANS 

FLEET  DEMANDED  THE  SURRENDER  OF  THE  CITY 


HORRORS  OF  WAR 


284 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  JEFFERSON  C.  DAVIS 


was  ordered  to  a  position  where  he  might  assist  in  the  defence  of  the  Capital,  or  in  an  attack  upon 
Richmond,  as  circumstances  might  require.  General  Wool,  with  his  ten  thousand  men  at  Fortress 
Monroe,  was  also  made  independent  of  McClellan's  orders,  although,  like  McDowell,  he  was  directed  to 
co-operate  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  as  far  as  possible. 
General  McClellan,  perceiving  these  indications  of  a  lack  of  im 
plicit  confidence  in  his  judgment,  and  feeling  that  he  might  be 
denied  support  at  any  time,  startled  the  President  on  the  7th  of 
April  by  telegraphing  to  the  Secretary  of  War  that  he  had  only 
eighty-five  thousand  effective  men,  and  might  be  called  upon  to 
confront  one  hundred  thousand  Confederates.  He  had  just 
reported  that  he  had  over  one  hundred  thousand  effective  troops. 
The  President  asked  him  to  explain,  and  urged  him  to  strike  the 
foe  before  they  should  gather  in  greater  strength  on  his  front. 
Instead  of  that,  McClellan  continued  to  halt  and  complain  of  a 
want  of  troops.  The  President  urged  him  to  act.  "The  country 
will  note — it  is  now  noting,"  Mr.  Lincoln  said,  "that  the  present 
hesitation  to  move  upon  an  intrenched  enemy  is  but  the  story  of 
Manassas  repeated."  The  President  expressed  the  kindest  feel 
ings  toward  the  general,  and  closed  his  letter  with  the  remark, 
"But  you  must  act."  Still  he  hesitated  and  complained;  and 
although,  at  the  close  of  April,  just  before  the  Confederates  evac 
uated  Yorktown,  he  reported  one  hundred  and  twelve  thousand  soldiers  on  the  Peninsula  fit  for  duty,  he 
complained  that  the  lack  of  McDowell's  force  prevented  Franklin  striking  the  fugitives  from  Williamsburg 
on  the  flank.  It  is  asserted  that  the  chief  cause  of  the  failure  was  McClellan's  hesitancy  in  deciding 
whether  he  should  smite  the  Confederates  on  their  front,  or  flank  them,  until  it  was  too  late  to  attempt 
either. 

The  veteran  General  John  E.  Wool  had  now  been  in  command  at  Fortress  Monroe  for  some  time. 
He  felt  certain  that  the  Confederate  soldiers  might  easily  be  driven  out  of  Norfolk;  and  after  the  affair  at 
Williamsburg  he  obtained  leave  to  make  an  effort  to  dislodge  them.  Having  made  a  personal  recon 
naissance,  he  crossed  Hampton  Roads  and  landed  a  few  regiments  in  the  rear  of  Confederate  works  below 
that  city.  General  Huger,  in  command  at  Norfolk,  had  already  perceived  his  peril,  with  Burnside  in 
his  rear  and  McClellan  on  his  flank,  and  he  retreated.  So  Wool  gained  a  bloodless  victory  on  the  gth 
of  May.  The  Confederate  vessels  in  the  James  River  hastened  toward  Richmond.  The  Confederates 
set  fire  to  the  battered  Merrimac,  and  the  troops  fled  from  the  city  of  Norfolk.  A  flotilla  of  National 
gunboats,  commanded  by  Commodore  Rodgers,  chased  the  Confederate  vessels  as  far  as  Drewry's  Bluff, 
eight  miles  below  Richmond,  where  a  strong  fort  and  river  obstructions  checked  the  pursuers. 

The  wisdom  of  detaching  McDowell's  corps  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
was  soon  made  apparent.     After  the  departure  of  Johnston,  with  his  troops, 
from  Manassas,  which  relieved  Washington  from  immediate  danger,  McDowell 
advanced  to  Fredericksburg,  with  thirty  thousand  men,  to  assist  McClellan  or 
cover  the  Capital,  as  he  might  be  ordered.     Fremont  among  the  mountains  and 
Banks  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley  had,  in  the  aggregate,  about  the  same  number 
of  troops ;   and  at  the  beginning  of  May,  Stonewall  Jackson  had 
been  joined  by  the  skillful  General  Ewell,  near  Harrisonburg,  in 
the  upper  part  of  the  Valley.     Ewell  was  ordered  to  hold  Banks, 
while   General   Robert   E.    Lee,   who   had   been   recalled   from 
Georgia,  should  push  across  the  Rappahannock  with  a  strong 
column  and  cut  off  all  communication  between  Winchester  and 
Alexandria. 

While  Jackson  was  watching  Banks  he  was  startled  by  the 
approach  of  one  of  Fremont's  brigades  under  General  Milroy, 
evidently  for  the  purpose  of  joining  the  Nationals  in  the  Valley. 
Jackson  immediately  moved  against  Milroy;  and  at  McDowell, 
west  of  Staunton,  he  struck  the  brigade  a  severe  blow  on  the 
8th  of  May.  A  sharp  engagement  occurred,  lasting  about  five 
hours.  Neither  party  won  a  victory.  The  Nationals  lost  in 
killed  and  wounded  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  men,  and  the 


COLONEL  C.  \V. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


285 


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286 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


HEADQUARTERS  OF  GENERAL  MAGRUDER  AT  YORKTOWN 


Confederates,  four  hundred  and  sixty-one.  Notwithstanding  it  was  a  drawn  battle,  Jackson  sent  a 
note  to  Ewell  the  next  morning,  saying:  "Yesterday,  God  gave  us  the  victory  at  McDowell." 

Meanwhile  General  Banks  had  been  pressed  back  by  Ewell,  to  Strasburg;    and  a  fortnight  later 

(May  2,sd)  a  National  force  under  Colonel  J.  R.  Kenly, 
of  Baltimore,  was  captured  or  dispersed  at  Front  Royal 
by  the  combined  troops  of  Jackson  and  Ewell.  Per 
ceiving  his  peril,  Banks  fled  down  the  Shenandoah  Valley 
in  swift  marches,  pursued  by  twenty  thousand  Confed 
erates,  and  won  the  race  to  Winchester,  where  he  made 
a  stand  with  seven  thousand  men,  ten  Parrott  guns,  and 
a  battery  of  6-pound  smooth-bore  cannon.  There  he 
was  attacked  by  Ewell,  on  the  25th  of  May.  Contem 
plating  the  contingency  of  a  retreat,  he  had  sent  his 
trains  toward  the  Potomac.  Very  soon  Jackson  ap 
proached  with  an  overwhelming  force,  when  Banks  or 
dered  a  retreat,  after  his  troops  had  fought  gallantly  for 
several  hours.  It  was  done  in  a  masterly  manner.  They 
were  pursued  as  far  as  Martinsburg,  where  the  chase  was 
ended.  The  Nationals  reached  the  Potomac,  at  Wil- 
liamsport,  where,  on  the  hill-sides,  the  wearied  troops 
rested  behind  a  thousand  blazing  camp-fires  that  night. 
The  National  capital  was  now  in  real  danger,  and  it 
could  only  be  relieved  from  peril  by  the  retreat  or  capture 

of  the  Confederates  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  McDowell  sent  a  force  over  the  Blue  Ridge  to  intercept 
them  if  they  should  retreat,  and  Fremont  pressed  on  from  the  west,  toward  Strasburg,  with  the  same 
object  in  view.  Perceiving  the  threatened  danger,  Jackson  fled  up  the  Valley  with  his  whole  force,  hotly 
pursued  by  the  Nationals;  and  at  Cross  Keys,  beyond  Harrisonburg,  Fremont  overtook 'Ewell,  when  a 
sharp  but  indecisive  battle  occurred  on  the  ~th  of  June.  Jackson  was  then  at  Port  Republic,  beyond 
the  Shenandoah  River,  only  a  few  miles  distant,  so  closely  pressed  by  troops  under  Generals  Carroll  and 
Tyler,  that  he  called  upon  Ewell  for  help.  The  latter  retired  from  Cross  Keys  under  cover  of  night, 
closely  followed  by  the  vigilant  Fremont;  but  Ewell  fired  the  bridge  over  the  Shenandoah  near  Port 
Republic,  before  his  pursuer  could  reach  that  stream.  Jackson,  having  overwhelming  numbers,  routed 
the  Nationals  after  a  severe  battle  at  Port  Republic,  and  then  the  latter  retraced  their  steps  toward 
Winchester.  So  ended  the  second  great  race  of  contending  troops  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley. 

General  McClellan,  with  the  head  of  his  pursuing  army,  reached  the  "White  House,"  at  the  head 
of  navigation  of  the  Pamunkey  River,  on  the  i6th  of  May.  The  "White  House"  and  surrounding  lands 
belonged  to  General  Robert  E.  Lee'?  wife,  which  she  inherited  from  Mrs.  Washington.  It  was  not  the 
"White  House"  in  which  the  first  months  of  Washington's  married  life  were  spent,  for  that  had  been 
burned  more  than  thirty  years  before.  It  was  a  modern  dwelling  near  the  spot;  but  by  McClellan's 
order  it  was  carefully  protected  from  harm,  not  a  sick  soldier  being  allowed  to  find  shelter  beneath  its 
roof.  From  that  point,  the  general  pressed  forward  to  Cold 
Harbor,  near  the  Chickahominy  River,  where  he  made  his  head 
quarters,  within  nine  miles  of  Richmond.  General  Casey's 
division  of  General  Keyes's  corps  crossed  the  river,  and  occupied 
heights  on  the  Richmond  side  of  the  stream,  supported  by 
troops  under  General  Heintzelman.  Along  the  line  of  the  Chick 
ahominy  the  armies  of  McClellan  and  Johnston  confronted  each 
other  toward  the  close  of  May,  separated  by  a  narrow  stream 
liable  to  a  sudden  overflow  of  its  banks  and  filling  of  the  adjacent 
swamps.  There  the  two  commanders  waited  for  decisive  results 
in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  each  expecting  reinforcements  from 
that  region. 

In  the  meantime  the  Confederate  government  at  Richmond, 
alarmed  by  the  approach  of  the  Nationals  by  land  and  water, 
had  prepared  to  fly  into  South  Carolina.  They  had  actually 
sent  their  "archives"  to  Columbia,  and  to  Lynchburg,  in  Vir 
ginia-  WHITE  HOUSE  LANDING 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


287 


ORDERLIES  AND  SERVANTS  AND  GROUP  AT  PHOTOGRAPHER'S  TENT,  YORKTOWN 


EMBARKATION  AT  YORKTOWX  KOR  WHITE  HOTSE  LAXDIXI; 
GENERALS  FRAXKLIX,  SI.OCUM,  BAKUY  AND  \K\VTON 


GKXKKAI.    AXIIKKW    POUTER    AND    STAFF 

ANII  STAFF  OFF! 


288 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHRONOLOGICAL  SUMMARY  AND  RECORD— Continued 


SEPTEMBER,  1863— Continued  from  Section  8 

6 — Limestone  Station,  Tenn.  Five  Cos.  100th  Ohio.  Union  12  killed,  20 
wounded,  240  missing.  Confed.  6  killed,  10  wounded. 

8 — Night  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  S.  C.  Four  hundred  and  thirteen  marines 
and  sailors,  commanded  by  Commander  Stevens,  U.  S.  N.  Union  3 
killed,  114  missing. 

9 — Cumberland  Gap,  Tenn.  Shackleford's  Cavalry.  Confed.  2,000  cap 
tured. 

10 — Little  Rock,  Ark.      Maj.-Gen.  Steele's  troops  and  Davidson's  Cavalry. 
11 — Ringgold,    Ga.      Advance   of   Twenty-first    Corps.      Union   8   killed,    19 

wounded.     Conjed.  3  killed,  18  missing. 
12— Sterling's  Plantation,  La.     Battery  E  1st  Mo.  Artil.      Union  3  killed,  3 

wounded. 
13 — Culpeper,  Va.      1st,  2d,  and  3d  Divisions,  Cavalry  Corps  Army  of  the 

Potomac.      Union    3    killed,    40    wounded.      Confed.     10    killed,    40 

wounded,  75  missing. 
Lett's  Tan  Yard,  near  Chickamauga,  Ga.     Wilder's  Mounted  Brigade. 

Union  50  killed  and  wounded.     Confed.  10  killed,  40  wounded. 
14 — Rapidan  Station,  Va.     Cavalry  Army  of  the  Potomac.      Union  8  killed, 

40  wounded. 
Vidalia,  La.     2d  Mo.      Union  2  killed,  4  wounded.     Confed.  6  killed, 

11  wounded. 

19 — Rapidan  Station,  Va.     Buford's  Cavalry.      Union  4  killed,  19  wounded. 
19  and  20 — Chickamauga,  Ga.      Army  of  the  Cumberland,  Maj.-Gen.  Rose- 

crans;     Fourteenth    Corps,    Maj.-Gen.    Thomas;     Twentieth    Corps, 

Maj.-Gen.  McCook;    Twenty-first  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Crittenden,  and 

Reserve     Corps,     Maj.-Gen.     Granger.      Union     1,644     killed,     9,262 

wounded,  4,94.5  missing.      Confed.  2,389  killed,  13,412  wounded,  2,003 


Gregg,    Brown,    Me  N  air,    Bunn,    Preston,    Clerburne,    Benning,    and 

Clayton  wounded. 
21 — Bristol,    Tenn.     Shackleford's   and   Foster's   Cavalry.     Casualties   not 

recorded. 
22 — Madison  C.  H.,  Tenn.      1st  Division  Buford's  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  20 

wounded. 
Blountsville,    Tenn.     Foster's    2d    Brigade    Cav.      Union    5   killed,    22 

wounded.      Confed.  15  killed,  50  wounded,  100  missing. 
Rockville,  Md.     llth  X.  Y.  Cav.     Confed.  34  killed  and  wounded. 
26 — Calhoun,    Tenn.     Cavalry    Army    of    the    Ohio.      Union    6    killed,    20 

wounded,  40  missing. 
27 — Moffat's    Station,    Ark.      Detachment     1st    Ark.      Union    2    killed,    2 

wounded.      Confed.  5  killed,  20  wounded. 
19 — Near    Morganzia,    La.      19th    Iowa,    26th    Ind.      Union    14    killed,    40 

wounded,  400  missing. 

OCTOBER,  1863 

1 — Anderson's  Gap,  Tenn.     21st  Ky.      Union  38  killed  and  wounded. 

2 — Anderson's  Cross  Roads,  Tenn.      McCook's  Cavalry  Corps.      Union  70 

killed  and  wounded.     Confed.  200  killed  and  wounded. 
3 — McMinnville,    Tenn.      4th    Tenn.      Union    7    killed,    31    wounded,    350 

missing.     Confed.  23  killed  and  wounded. 
4 — Neosho,   Mo.     Three  Cos.  6th   Mo.   Militia  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  14 

wounded,  43  missing. 
6 — Stockade    at    Stone    River,    Tenn.     One    Co.    19th    Mich.      Union    6 

wounded,  44  captured. 

Glasgow,  Ky.     37th  Ky.  Mounted  Inft.      Union  3  wounded,  100  miss 
ing.     Confed.  13  wounded. 
6 — Quantrell's  attack  on  the  escort  of  Maj.-Gen.  Blunt,  at  Baxter  Springs, 

Ark.,    robbing   and    murdering    the    prisoners.      Union    54    killed,    18 

wounded,  5  missing. 
7 — Near  Farmington,  Tenn.      1st,  3d,  and  4th  Ohio  Cav.,  2d  Ky.  Cav.t 

Long's  2d  Cav.  Division,  and  Wilder's  Brigade  Mounted  Inft.      Union 

15  killed,  60  wounded.      Confed.  10  killed,  60  wounded,  240  missing. 
10 — Rapidan,  Va.     Buford's  Cavalry.      Union  20  wounded. 

James  City,  also  called  Robertson's  Run,  Va.     Pleasanton's  Cavalry. 

Union  10  killed,  40  wounded. 
Blue  Springs,  Tenn.      Ninth  Corps  Army  of  the  Ohio  and  Shackleford's 

Cav.      Union    100  killed,   wounded,   and   missing.      Confed.   66  killed 

and  wounded,  150  missing. 

11 — Henderson's  Mill,  Tenn.     5th  Ind.  Cav.      Union  11  wounded.     Confed. 
30  killed  and  wounded. 

Colliersville,  Tenn.     66th  Ind.,  13th  U.  S.  Reg.      Union  15  killed,  50 

wounded. 
12 — Jefferson,  Va.     2d  Cavalry  Division  Army  of  the  Potomac.      Union  12 

killed,  80  wounded,  400  missing. 
12  and  13 — Ingham's  Mills  and  Wyatts,  Miss.     2d  Iowa  Cav.      Union  45 

killed  and  wounded.     Confed.  50  killed  and  wounded. 
Culpeper  and  White  Sulphur  Springs,  Va.      Cavalry  Corps  Army  of  the 

Potomac.      Union  8  killed,  46  wounded. 
Merrill's  Crossing  to  Lamine  Crossing,  Mo.      Mo.  Enrolled  Militia,  1st 

Mo.   Militia  Battery,   1st,  4th,  and  7th  Mo.   Militia  Cav.      Union  16 

killed.     Confed.  53  killed,  70  wounded. 
Blountville,    Tenn.      3d    Brigade    of    Shackleford's    Cavalry.      Union    6 

wounded.     Confed.  8  killed,  26  wounded. 
Bulltown,  Va.      Detachments  of  6th  and  llth  W.  Va.     Confed.  9  killed, 

60  wounded. 
14 — Auburn,  Va.      Portion  of  1st  Division  Second  Corps.      Union  11  killed, 

42  wounded.      Confed.  8  killed,  24  wounded. 
Bristoe  Station,  Va.      Second  Corps,  portion  of  5th  Corps,  2d  Cavalry 

Division    Army    of   the    Potomac.      Union    51    killed,    329    wounded. 

Confed.    750   killed    and    wounded,    450    missing.      Union    Brig. -Gen. 

Malone    killed.      Confed.    Brig. -Gens.    Cooke,    Posey,    and    Kirkland 

wounded. 


15 — McLean's  Ford  or  Liberty  Mills,  Va.  New  Jersey  Brigade  of  Third 
Corps.  Union  2  killed,  25  wounded.  Confed.  60  killed  and  wounded. 

15  to  18 — Canton,  Brownsville,  and  Clinton,  Miss.  Portion  of  Fifteenth  and 
Seventeenth  Corps.  Confed.  200  killed  and  wounded. 

16 — Cross  Timbers,  Mo.     18th  Iowa.     Confed.  2  killed,  8  wounded. 

17 — Tampa  Bay,  Fla.  Destruction  of  two  blockade  runners  by  U.  S.  Gun 
boats  Tahoma  and  A  dele.  Union  3  killed,  10  wounded. 

18— Charlestown,  W.  Va.  9th  Md.  Union  12  killed,  13  wounded,  379 
missing. 

Berrysville,  Va.     34th   Mass.,   17th  Ind.   Battery.      Union  2  killed,  4 

wounded.     Confed.  5  killed,  20  wounded. 
19— Buckland  Mills,  Va.      3d  Division  of  Kilpatrick's  Cav.      Union  20  killed, 

60  wounded,  100  missing.     Confed.  10  killed,  40  wounded. 
20  and  22 — Philadelphia,  Tenn.      45th  Ohio  Mounted  Inft.,   1st,  llth,  and 

12th  Ky.  Cav.,  24th  Ind.  Battery.      Union  20  killed,  80  wounded,  354 

missing.      Confed.  15  killed,  82  wounded,  111  missing. 
21— Cherokee  Station,  Ala.      1st  Division  Fifteenth  Corps.      Union  7  killed, 

37  wounded.      Confed.  40  killed  and  wounded. 

22— Beverly  Ford,  Va.     2d  Penna.  and  1st  Me.  Cav.      Union  6  killed. 
25 — Pine  Bluff,  Ark.     5th  Kan.   and   1st  Ind.   Cav.      Union   11  killed,  27 

wounded.     Confed.  53  killed,  164  wounded. 
26 — Cane    Creek,    Ala.      1st    Division    Fifteenth    Corps.      Union   2   killed,    6 

wounded.     Confed.  10  killed,  30  wounded. 
Vincent's  Cross  Roads,  or  Bay  Springs,  Miss.     1st  Alabama  (Union) 

Cav.      Union  14  killed,  25  wounded. 
27 — Brown's    Ferry,    Tenn.      Detachment   of    2d    Brigade,    2d    Division   of 

Fourth  Corps.      Union  5  killed,  21  wounded. 
Wauhatchie,  Tenn.      Eleventh  Corps  and  2d  Division  of  Twelfth  Corps 

Union  77  killed,  339  wounded.     Confed.  300  killed,  1,200  wounded. 

28— Leiper's  Ferry,  Tenn.      llth  and  37th  Ky.,  112th  111.      Union  2  killed, 

5  wounded. 
29 — Cherokee  Station,  Ala.     First  Division  of  Fifteenth  Corps.     Casualties 

not  recorded. 

NOVEMBER,  1863 

3 — Centerville  and  Piney  Factory,  Tenn.  Detachments  from  various  regi 
ments,  under  Lieut. -Col.  Scully.  Confed.  15  killed. 

Grand  Coteau,  La.  3d  and  4th  Divisions  of  Thirteenth  Corps.  Union 
26  killed,  124  wounded,  576  missing.  Confed.  60  killed,  320  wounded, 
65  missing. 

3  and  4 — Colliersville.  and  Moscow,  Tenn.  Cavalry  Brigade  of  Sixteenth 
Corps.  Union  6  killed,  57  wounded.  Confed.  100  wounded. 

6 — Rogersville,  Tenn.  7th  Ohio  Cav.,  2d  Tenn.  Mounted  Inft.,  2d  111. 
Battery.  Union  5  killed,  12  wounded,  650  missing.  Confed.  10  killed, 
20  wounded. 

Droop  Mountain,  Va.  10th  W.  Va.,  28th  Ohio,  14th  Penna.  Cav  2d 
and  5th  W.  Va.  Cav.,  Battery  B,  W.  Va.  Artil.  Union  31  killed,  94 
wounded.  Confed.  50  killed,  250  wounded,  100  missing. 

7 — Rappahannock  Station,  Va.     5th  Wis.,  5th  and  6th  Maine,  49th  and 

119th  Penna.,  121st  N.  Y.,  supported  by  balance  of  Sixth  and  portion 

of  Fifth  Corps.      Union  370  killed  and  wounded.      Confed.   11  killed, 

98  wounded,  1,629  missing. 
Kelly's  Ford,  Va.      1st  U.  S.  Sharpshooters,  40th  N.  Y.,  1st  and  20th 

Ind.,  3d  and  5th   Mich.,   110th  Penna.,  supported  by  remainder  of 

Third  Corps.     Union  70  killed  and  wounded.     Confed.  5  killed,  59 

wounded,  295  missing. 
8 — Clarksville,  Ark.     3d  Wis.  Cav.      Union  2  killed. 

Muddy  Run,  near  Culpeper,  Va.      1st  Division  Cavalry  Division  Army 

of  the  Potomac.      Union  4  killed,  25  wounded. 
11— Natchez,    Miss.     58th    U.    S.    Colored.      Union   4   killed,    6   wounded. 

Confed.  4  killed,  8  wounded. 
13— Trinity    River,    Cal.     Two    Cos.    1st    Battalion    Cal.    Inft.     Union    2 

wounded. 
14— Huff's  Ferry,  Tenn.     lllth  Ohio.  107th  111.,   llth  and  13th  Ky.,  23d 

Mich.,  24th  Mich.  Battery.      Union  100  killed  and  wounded. 
Rockford,  Tenn.      1st  Ky.  Cav.,  45th  Ohio  Mounted  Inft.      Union  25 

wounded. 

Marysville,  Tenn.     llth  Ky.  Cav.      Union  100  killed  and  wounded. 
15 — Loudon    Creek,    Tenn.      lllth    Ohio.      Union    4    killed,    12    wounded. 

Confed.  6  killed,  10  wounded. 
16 — Campbell's  Station,  Tenn.      Ninth  Corps,  2d  Division  of  Twenty-third 

Corps,  Sanders'  Cav.      Union  60  killed,  340  wounded.     Confed.  570 

killed  and  wounded. 
17 — Mount  Jackson,   Va.      1st   N.   Y.    Cav.      Union  2  killed,   3  wounded. 

Confed.  27  missing. 
17  to  Dec.  4 — Siege  of  Knoxville,  Tenn.     Army  of  the  Ohio,  commanded  by 

Maj.-Gen.    Burnside,    complete    casualties    not    recorded.     At    Fort 

Sanders,  Nov.  29th,  the  losses  were,   Union  20  killed,  80  wounded. 

Confed.  80  killed,  400  wounded,  300  captured. 

19 — Union  City,  Tenn.  2d  111.  Cav.  Union  1  killed.  Confed.  11  killed, 
53  captured. 

23  to  25 — Chattanooga,  Lookout  Mountain,  Orchard  Knob  and  Missionary 
Ridge,  Tenn.  Fourth  and  Fourteenth  Corps,  Army  of  the  Cumber 
land,  Maj.-Gen.  Geo.  H.  Thomas;  Eleventh,  Geary's  Division  of  the 
Twelfth,  and  the  Fifteenth  Corps  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  Maj.-Gen. 
W.  T.  Sherman.  Union  757  killed,  4,529  wounded,  330  missing. 
Confed.  361  killed,  2,181  wounded,  6,142  missing. 

24 — Sparta,    Tenn.      1st   Tenn.   and  9th   Penna.   Cav.     Confed.   1  killed,   2 

wounded. 
26  to  28— Operations  at  Mine  Run,  Va.,  including  Raccoon  Ford,  New  Hope. 

Robertson's  Tavern,  Bartlett's  Mills  and  Locust  Grove.      First  Corps. 

Second  Corps,  Third  Corps,  Fifth  Corps,  Sixth  Corps,  and  1st  and  2d 

Cavalry    Divisions   Army    of   the    Potomac.      Union    100   killed,    400 

wounded.      Confed.  100  killed,  400  wounded. 

(Continued  in  Section  10) 


. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


A  COOK  HOUSE 


CHAPTER  XVII.— Continued. 

THE  Virginia   Legislature,    disgusted  with  the  cowardice  and  perfidy  of  President  Davis  and  his 
colleagues,   passed    resolutions  (May  1.4.1   calling  upon  them  to  defend  Richmond  at   all  hazards, 
and  resolved,  with  a  clearness  that  deprived  the  trembling  government  of  every  excuse  but  fear,  that 
"the  President  be  assured  that  whatever  destruction  or  loss  of  property  of  the  State  or  individual  shall 

thereby  result,  will  be  cheerfully  submitted  to."  It  is 
believed  that  this  act  was  inspired  by  General  Johnston, 
who  saw  with  indignation  the  railroad  bridge  at  Richmond 
covered  with  plank,  for  facilitating  the  flight  of  artillery 
across  them,  and  a  train  of  cars  in  constant  readiness  for 
the  flight  of  Davis  and  his  cabinet. 

The  first  collision  between  the  two  armies  near  the 
Chickahominy  occurred  on  the  23d  and  24th  of  May,  one 
at  New  Bridge  and  the  other  at  and  near  Mechanicsville, : 
less  than  eight  miles  from  Richmond.     The  Confederates' 
were  driven  beyond  the  Chickahominy  at  Mechanicsville, '. 
and  a  large  part  of  the  Nationals  took  possession  of  the- 
Richmond  side  of  the  stream.     This  bold  dash  was  fol 
lowed  the  next  morning  by  a  stirring  order  by  McClellan  • 
for  an  immediate  advance  on  Richmond.     The  loyal  peo 
ple  rejoiced.     He  had  said  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  ten 
days  before,  "I  will  fight  the  enemy,  whatever  their  force  may  be,  with  whatever  force  we  may  have." 
Everything  was  in  readiness  for  an  advance  and  every  circumstance  was  favorable,  for  panic  had  seized 
the  inhabitants  in  Richmond,  and  the  Confederate  troops  were  not  sanguine  of  a  successful  defence.     But 
the  over-cautious  general  hesitated  until  the  golden  opportunity  was  lost  forever.     This  chronic  hesitancy 
President  Lincoln  evidently  anticipated,  for  about  the  time  when  McClellan  issued  his  inspiring  order, 
the  former,  anxious  for  the  safety  of  the  Capital,  telegraphed  to  the  general,  "I  think  the  time  is  near 
when  you  must  either  attack  Richmond  or  give  up  the  job  and  come  to  the  defence  of  Washington." 

For  several  days  afterward,  operations  on  the  flank  of  the  great  army  made  the  sum  of  its  action. 
General  Fitz  John  Porter  was  sent  to  Hanover  Court-House  with  a  considerable  force  to  keep  the  way 
open  for  McDowell  to  join  the  army,  which  McClellan  persistently  demanded.  Porter  had  some  sharp 
skirmishes  near  the  Court-House,  and  cut  railway  communications  with  Richmond,  all  but  the  important 
one  with  Fredericksburg.  The  general  telegraphed  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  that  Washington  was  not 
in  danger,  and  that  it  was  "the  policy  and  the  duty  of  the  Government "  to  send  him  "all  the  well-drilled 
troops  available."  When  the  raids  on  the  Confederate  communications  had  been  effected,  Porter  rejoined 
the  main  army  lying  quietly  on  the  Chickahominy,  and 
McClellan  again  telegraphed  to  the  Secretary  of  War, 
saying:  "I  will  do  all  that  quick  movements  can  accom 
plish,  but  you  must  send  me  all  the  troops  you  can,  and 
leave  me  full  latitude  as  to  choice  of  commanders." 

Three  days  afterward  there  were  "quick  movements" 
in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  General  Johnston,  perceiving 
McClellan's  apparent  timidity  and  the  real  peril  of  his 
army  so  injudiciously  divided  by  the  fickle  Chickahominy, 
marched  boldly  out  frpm  his  intrenchments  in  front  of 
Richmond,  to  attack  the  Nationals  on  the  city  side  of  the 
stream.  On  the  3  ist  of  May  he  fell  with  great  vigor  upon 
the  National  advance  under  General  Silas  Casey,  lying 
upon  each  side  of  the  Williamsburg  road,  half  a  mile  be 
yond  a  point  known  as  the  Seven  Pines,  and  six  miles  from 
Richmond.  General  Couch's  division  was  at  Seven  Pines, 
his  right  resting  at  Fair  Oaks  Station.  Kearney's  division  RUINS  OF  ARSENAL  AT  HARPER'S  FERRY 

of  Heintzelman's  corps  was  near  Savage's  Station,  and  Hooker's  division  of  the  latter  corps  was  guarding 
the  approaches  to  the  White  Oak  Swamp.     The  country  around  was  quite  level  and  mostly  wooded. 

Copyright.  1895.  by  CHARLES  F.  JOHNSON.     Copyright,  1905,  by  LOSSING  HISTORY  COMPA>TY.     Copyright,  1912.  by  THE  WAR  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


driven  back  by  overwhelming  numbers. 


General  Longstreet  led  the  Confederate  advance,  and  fell  suddenly  upon  Casey.     A  most  sanguinary 
battle  ensued.     Casey  fought  valiantly  until  full  one-third  of  his  command  was  disabled,  and  he  was 

Keyes  sent  troops  to  aid  him,  but  they  could  not  withstand  the 
pressure,  and  the  whole  body  was  pushed  back  to  Fair 
Oaks  Station  on  the  Richmond  and  York  Railway.  Re 
inforcements  sent  by  Heintzelman  and  Kearney  were  met 
by  fresh  Confederates,  and  the  victory  seemed  about  to  be 
given  to  the  latter,  when  General  Sumner  appeared  with 
the  divisions  of  Generals  Sedgwick  and  Richardson. 
Sumner  had  seen  the  peril,  and  without  waiting  orders 
from  McClellan,  had  moved  rapidly  to  the  scene  of  action. 
He  was  just  in  time  to  check  the  Confederate  advance. 
The  battle  still  raged  furiously.  General  Johnston  was  se 
verely  wounded  and  borne  from  the  field ;  and  early  in  the 
evening,  a  bayonet  charge  by  the  Nationals  broke  the 
Confederate  line  into  confusion.  The  fighting  then  ceased 
for  the  night,  but  it  was  resumed  in  the  morning  (June  i , 
1862),  when  General  Hooker  and  his  troops  took  a  con 
spicuous  part  in  the  struggle,  which  lasted  several  hours. 
Finally,  the  Confederates  withdrew  to  Richmond,  and  the 
Nationals  remained  masters  of  the  battle-field  of  Fair 
The  losses  were  nearly  equal  on  both  sides,  and  amounted 


THE  "WHITE  HOUSE" 


Oaks,  or  Seven  Pines,  as  it  is  sometimes  called. 

to  about  seven  thousand  each.     In  that  conflict  General  O.  O.  Howard  lost  his  right  arm. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  lay  on  the  borders  of  the  Chickahominy,  in  a  most  unhealthy  position,  for 
nearly  a  month  after  the  battle  of  Fair  Oaks,  quietly  besieging  Richmond;  and  the  public  expectation 
was  continually  fed  by  the  frequent  announcement  that  the  decisive  battle  would  be  fought  "to-morrow." 
General  Robert  E.  Lee  had  succeeded  the  wounded  Johnston  in  the  command  of  the  Confederate  troops, 
and  had  been  joined  by  Generals  Jackson  and  Ewell  from  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  Thus  strengthened, 
Lee  prepared  to  strike  the  Nationals  a  deadly  blow.  A  large  body  of  his  cavalry  under  the  dashing  leader 
General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  rode  all  around  McClellan's  army.  He  had  fifteen  hundred  mounted  men,  and 
four  pieces  of  horse-artillery.  He  swept  around  almost  to  the  "White  House;"  seized  and  burned 
fourteen  wagons  and  two  schooners  laden  with  forage,  in  the  Pamunkey,  above  the  "White  House;" 
captured  and  carried  away  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  prisoners  and  two  hundred  and  sixty  mules  and 
horses;  rested  three  hours,  and  during  the  night  crossed  the  Chickahominy  and  returned  to  Richmond 
by  the  Charles  City  Road,  on  the  morning  of  the  isth  of  June.  This  raid,  the  first  of  similar  and  more 
destructive  ones  by  both  parties  during  the  war,  produced  great  commotion  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

In  the  meantime  reinforcements  had  been  called  for  by  McClellan ,     

and  sent,  yet  that  commander  hesitated  to  strike. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

^Battles  of  Mechanicsville  and  Gaincs's  Mill — Transfer  of  the  Army  to  the  Jamos 
River — Battles  at  Savage's  Station,  White-Oak  Swamp  and  Glendale — Battle 
at  Malvern  Hill — The  Army  at  Harrison's  Landing — "Army  of  Virginia  "- 
Battle  of  Cedar  Mountain — Washington  in  Danger — McClellan  and  the  Govern 
ment — Flank  Movement — Battles  at  Groveton,  Bull  Run  and  Chantilly — Call 
for  Volunteers — Barbara  Frietchie — Battles  on  South  Mountain  andAntietam 
Creek — Burnside  Succeeds  McClellan — The  Army  at  Fredericksburg  and  Battle 
There. 

GENERAL  LEE  put  General  McClellan  on  the  defensive 
when,  on  the  26th  of  June  (1862),  he  sent  "Stonewall 
Jackson,"  with  a  considerable  force  from  Hanover  Court 
house,  to  turn  the  right  wing  of  the  National  army  and  fall  upon  their 
base  of  supplies  at  the  ' '  White  House. ' '     Jackson  had  been  quietly 
withdrawn  from  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  at  the  proper  time 
made  the  aggressive  movement  with  much  celerity.     At  the  same 
time  a  heavier  force,  under  General  Longstreet  and  others,  crossed  the  Chickahominy  near  Mechanicsville, 
and  attacked  McClellan's  right  wing  commanded  by  General  Fitz  John  Porter.     Near  Ellison's  Mill,  not 


THE  RUINS  OF  THK 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    W  A  R 


293 


GENERAL  FIT/.  JOHN   PORTER,  STAFF  AND  SCENES 


294 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


far  from  Mechanicsvillc,  a  terrific  battle  was  fought  that  day,  in  which  the  Confederates  were  defeated 
with  a  loss  of  between  three  and  four  thousand  men.  The  Nationals,  advantageously  posted,  lost  about 
four  hundred.  This  event  is  known  in  history  as  the  battle  of  Mechanics- 
ville. 

By  this  victory,  Richmond  was  placed  at  the  mercy  of  the  National 
troops;  but  McClellan,  considering  his  army  and  stores  in  peril,  imme 
diately  prepared  to  transfer  both  to  the  James  River.  This  movement 
was  so  secretly  and  skillfully  made,  that  Lee  was  not  certified  of  the  fact 
until  twenty-four  hours  after  it  was  actually  begun  on  the  morning  of 
the  ayth  of  June.  McClellan  ordered  his  stores  at  the  White  House  to 
be  destroyed  if  they  could  not  be  taken  away;  and  the  duty  of  protecting 
them  in  their  removal  was  assigned  to  the  corps  of  Fitz  John  Porter. 
That  corps  was  also  charged  with  the  duty  of  carrying  away  the  siege 
guns  and  covering  the  army  in  its  march  for  the  James  River.  These 
troops  were  accordingly  arranged  on  the  rising  ground  near  Gaines's  Mill, 
on  the  arc  of  a  circle  between  Cold  Harbor  and  the  Chickahominy,  where 
they  were  attacked  in  the  afternoon  (June  27)  by  a  heavy  Confederate 
force  led  by  Generals  Longstreet  and  Hill.  The  battle  that  ensued  was 
very  severe.  Hard  pressed,  Porter  sent  to  McClellan,  who  was  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river,  for  help;  but  the  latter,  believing  Magruder's 
twenty-five  thousand  men  at  Richmond  to  be  sixty  thousand,  sent  only 

Slocum's  division  of  Franklin's  corps.  Finding  that  the  battle  still  raged  with  great  fury,  and  doubtful 
of  the  issue,  the  commander-in-chicf  then  sent  the  brigades  of  Richardson  and  Meagher  across  the  river. 
They  arrived  just  in  time  to  save  Porter's  corps  from  destruction.  His  shattered  column  was  falling  back 
in  disorder,  closely  pressed,  when  the  shouts  of  the  fresh  troops  checked  the  pursuers  and  so  inspirited  the 
fugitives  that  they  rallied  and  drove  the  Confederates  back  to  the  field  they  had  won.  So-  ended  the 
battle  of  Gaines's  Mill,  with  a  loss  to  the  Nationals  of  eight  thousand  men,  and  to  the  Confederates  of 
about  five  thousand.  Porter  also  lost  twenty-two  siege  guns.  During  the  night  succeeding  the  battle 
his  corps  withdrew  to  the  right  side  of  the  Chickahominy,  destroying  the  bridges  behind  them. 

Before  the  dawn  of  the  28th  the  National  army  moved  toward  Turkey  Bend  of  the  James  River. 
General  Keyes  led  the  way  through  White  Oak  Swamp,  followed  by  Porter's  shattered  corj:s.  Then 
came  a  train  of  five  thousand  wagons  laden  with  ammunition,  stores  and  baggage,  and  a  drove  of  twenty- 
five  hundred  head  of  beef  cattle.  This  movement  was  so  skillfully  masked  that  General  Lee,  who 
suspected  McClellan  was  about  to  give  battle  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Chickahominy,  in  defence  of 
his  stores  at  the  "White  House,"  or  was  preparing  to  retreat  down  the  Peninsula,  was  completely  deceived; 
and  it  was  late  in  the  night  of  the  28th  (June,  1862)  when  the  astounding  fact  was  announced  to  him 
that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  were  far  on  their  way  toward  a  new  position  on  the  James  River.  He 
had  then  just  been  informed  that  a  large  portion  of  the  stores  at  the  "White  House"  had  been  removed, 
and  that  the  remainder,  with  the  mansion  itself,  were  in  flames.  To  overtake  and  destroy  the  retiring 

army  was  now  Lee's  first  duty,  and  he  prosecuted  the  effort  with  so 
much  vigor,  that  the  Nationals  had  a  desperate  struggle  to  escape. 

The  divisions  of  Sedgwick,  Richardson,  Heintzelman  and  Smith,  of 
Franklin's  corps,  were  at  Savage's  Station,  under  the  general  command 
of  vSumner.  These  formed  McClellan's  rear-guard.  There  they  were 
assailed  by  a  Confederate  force  under  Magruder,  whom  Lee  had  sent  for 
the  purpose,  and  who  first  attacked  Sedgwick  at  about  nine  o'clock  on 
the  29th.  Then  a  battle  of  great  severity  was  fought,  and  it  ended  only 
at  evening,  after  darkness  had  come  on.  Magruder  was  repulsed  by  the 
brigade  of  General  Burns,  supported  by  those  of  Brooke  and  Hancock. 
The  Nationals  fell  back  to  White  Oak  Swamp  covered  by  French's 
brigade,  leaving  twenty-five  hundred  of  them  wounded  at  Savage's  Sta 
tion,  who  became  prisoners  to  the  Confederates.  By  five  o'clock  the  next 
morning  the  entire  army  had  passed  the  Swamp,  and  destroyed  the  bridge 
behind  them  that  spanned  a  creek  which  they  had  crossed  in  the  passage. 
There  were  severe  contests  on  the  morning  of  the  3oth  of  June,  at 
the  main  bridge  in  White  Oak  Swamp  and  at  Glendale,  near  by.  McClel- 
OENERAL  HI-GER,  c.  s.  A.  lan's  main  army  had  then  reached  the  open  country  in  the  region  of 


HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


295 


ANTIETAM  BRIDGE 


METHOD  OF  DESTROYING  RAILROADS  TO  PREVENT  TRANSPORTATION 


296 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  J.   K.   F.   MANSFIELD 
KILLED  AT  THE  BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM 

carry  Malvern  Hill  by  storm. 


Malvern  Hill.  General  Franklin  had  been  left  with  a  rear-guard  to  protect  the  passage  of  the  bridge 
and  cover  the  withdrawal  of  the  wagon-trains  from  that  point,  and  it  was  with  him  that  the  Confederate 
pursuers  had  a  sharp  contest  which  lasted  nearly  all  day.  The  latter  were  kept  back;  and  that  night, 

the  Nationals,  having  destroyed  the  bridge,  withdrew,  leaving  behind 
them  three  hundred  of  their  sick  and  wounded  and  some  disabled  guns. 
While  the  strife  was  going  on  there,  a  sanguinary  battle  was  fought  at 
Glendale,  not  far  off,  between  the  Nationals  and  a  column  of  Confederates 
led  by  Longstreet  and  Hill.  In  that  conflict,  Pennsylvania  troops,  under 
General  McCall,  suffered  much.  That  leader  was  captured,  and  General 
Meade  was  severely  wounded.  Fresh  troops  under  Hooker,  Meagher 
and  Taylor,  arrived  in  time  to  give  the  victory  at  Glendale  to  the  Na 
tionals;  and  the  next  day  (July  i,  1862)  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  united 
for  the  first  time  since  it  was  divided  by  the  Chickahominy,  were  in  a 
strong  position  on  Malvern  Hill,  within  the  reach  of  National  gunboats 
on  the  James  River.  But  General  McClellan  thought  the  position  not  a 
safe  one,  notwithstanding  it  is  a  high  plateau,  with  a  bold  bank  sloping 
toward  the  river  and  flanked  by  deep  ravines;  and  on  the  morning  of  the 
first  of  July  he  went  down  the  James  River  on  the  gunboat  Galena  and 
selected  a  spot  at  Harrison's  Landing,  not  far  from  Malvern  Hill,  as  a 
secure  place  for  his  army  and  base  of  supplies. 

By  vigorous  movements,  Lee  compelled  the  Nationals  to  fight  while 
their  chief  leader  was  away.  The  Confederates  were  concentrated  at 
Glendale,  and  were  moved,  in  a  heavy  line  under  Lee's  best  generals,  to 
They  fell  with  intense  fury  upon  the  Nationals,  and  one  of  the  most 

terrible  battles  of  the  war  was  there  fought.  The  brunt  of  it  was  borne  by  the  troops  of  Porter,  Couch 
and  Kearney,  until  toward  evening,  when  Meagher  and  Richardson  came  to  their  aid  with  fresh  soldiers. 
The  Confederates  were  sorely  smitten  by  well-directed  bomb-shells  from  the  gunboats. 

This  fierce  contest  continued,  with  varying  fortunes  for  both  parties,  until  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
when  the  Confederates  were  driven  to  the  shelter  of  the  woods  and  swamps,  utterly  broken  and  dispirited. 
The  victory  for  the  Nationals  was  so  decisive  that  their  leaders  expected  to  pursue  Lee's  shattered  army 
in  the  morning,  and  march  into  Richmond  within  twenty-four  hours.  Their  disappointment  was  grievous 
when  General  McClellan,  who  had  been  on  board  the  Galena  nearly  all  day  while  the  army  was  fighting, 
ordered  that  army  to  fall  back  and  encamp  at  Harrison's  Landing.  The  chief  officers  felt  that  the  prize 
for  which  they  were  contending,  namely,  the  defeat  of  Lee's  army  and  the  capture  of  Richmond,  now 
within  their  grasp,  was  snatched  from  them  by  a  timid  hand,  and  obedience  was  reluctantly  but  promptly 
given.  It  seemed  to  be  a  fitting  ending  of  a  campaign  which  had  been  a  series  of  signal  failures,  with 
little  fruit,  excepting  the  loss  since  the  23d  of  May  of  more  than  fifteen  thousand  men.  The  army  lingered 
long  among  the  malarious  vapors  of  the  James  River,  until  many  more  had  fallen  victims  of  disease. 

When  Halleck  succeeded  McClellan  as  chief  of  the  armies,  he  ar 
ranged  the  troops  for  the  defence  of  Washington  in  three  corps;  and 
placing  them  under  the  command  of  General  John  Pope,  who  had  been 
called  from  the  West,  named  these  forces  the  Army  of  Virginia.  These 
corps  were  commanded  respectively  by  Generals  McDowell,  Banks  and 
Sigcl.  When  McClellan  had  retreated  to  Harrison's  Landing,  the  Con 
federates  at  Richmond,  satisfied  that  no  further  attempts  to  take  that 
city  would  be  made  at  that  time,  ordered  Lee  to  make  a  dash  on  Wash 
ington.  Having  information  of  Lee's  preparations  for  a  raid  to  the 
northward,  Halleck  ordered  Pope,  at  the  middle  of  July,  to  meet  the 
invader?  at  the  outset  of  the  raid.  National  cavalry  were  first  sent  by 
General  Rufus  King,  at  Fredericksburg,  who  made  excursions  to  within 
thirty  or  forty  miles  of  the  Confederate  capital,  and  destroyed  railway 
tracks  and  bridges. 

At  that  time  "Stonewall  Jackson  "  was  at  Gordonsville  with  a  heavy 
force,  and  Pope's  main  army  was  near  Culpepper  Court-House.  The 
former,  by  Lee's  orders,  crossed  the  Rapidan;  and  at  the  foot  of  Cedar 
Mountain,  a  few  miles  west  of  the  Court-House,  he  was  met  by  General 
Banks  toward  the  evening  of  the  gth  of  August.  There  occurred  one  of 


GENERAL  I.  P.  RODMAN  KILLED  AT  THE 
BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


297 


SCENES  AT  THE  BATTLEFIELD  OF  ANTIETAM 


MILLER'S  HOUSE,  ANTIETAM 


298 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  O.  O.  HOWARD 


the  most  sanguinary  battles  of  the  war.  Some  of  the  time  the  struggle  was  carried  on  hand-to-han  J,  under 
an  awful  pall  of  smoke  which,  after  nightfall,  obscured  the  light  of  the  moon.  Banks  was  pressed  back 
by  overwhelming  numbers,  and  sorely  pressed,  until  the  timely  arrival  of  Rickett's  division  of  McDowell's 

corps,  which  checked  the  pursuers.  In  this  conflict  Banks  was  ably 
assisted  by  Generals  Crawford,  Augur,  Geary  and  others.  The  battle 
ceased  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  though  cannonading  was  kept  up 
until  midnight.  "I  have  witnessed  many  battles  during  the  war,"  wrote 
a  newspaper  correspondent,  "but  I  have  seen  none  where  the  tenacious 
obstinacy  of  the  American  character  was  so  fully  displayed."  The 
National  loss  was  about  two  thousand  men,  killed  and  wounded,  and 
that  of  the  Confederates  was  about  the  same. 

Jackson  held  fast  to  his  mountain  position  until  the  night  of  the  nth 
(August,  1862)  when,  hearing  of  the  approach  of  National  troops  from 
the  Rappahannock,  he  fell  back  behind  the  Rapidan.  Pope  took 
position  along  the  line  of  that  stream,  where  he  was  reinforced  by  troops 
from  the  Carolinas  under  Generals  Burnside  and  Stevens.  The  Confed 
erates  were  now  concentrated  for  a  march  on  Washington,  in  heavy 
columns.  Halleck,  meanwhile,  perceiving  possible  danger  to  the  capital, 
had  issued  a  positive  order  to  McClellan,  on  the  ^d  of  August,  for  the 
immediate  transfer  of  the  A rmy  of  the  Potomac  to  the  vicinity  of  Wash 
ington.  That  commander  instructed  his  superior  officer  that  "the  true 
defence  of  Washington ' '  was  "  on  the  banks  of  the  James. ' '  The  order  was 
repeated  with  urgency;  but  it  took  twenty  days  to  accomplish  the  transfer. 

In  the  meantime  there  had  been  stirring  events  in  the  direction  of  the  capital.  Alarmed  at  the  force 
which  Lee  had  concentrated  on  his  front,  Pope  retired  behind  the  forks  of  the  Rappahannock.  Lee 
pushed  forward  to  that  river  with  heavy  columns,  and  on  the  2oth  and  aist  of  August,  a  severe  artillery 
duel  was  fought  above  Fredericksburg,  for  seven  or  eight  miles  along  that  stream.  Finding  that  they  could 
not  force  a  passage  of  the  river,  the  Confederates  took  a  circuitous  route  toward  the  mountains  to  flank 
the  Nationals,  when  Pope  made  skillful  movements  to  thwart  them.  But  danger  to  the  National  Capital 
increased  every  hour.  Troops  were  coming  with  tardy  pace  from  the  Peninsula;  and  on  the  25th,  when 
those  of  Franklin,  Heintzelman  and  Porter  had  arrived,  Pope's  army,  somewhat  scattered,  numbered 
about  sixty  thousand  men.  On  that  day,  Jackson,  leading  the  great  flanking  force,  crossed  the  Rappa 
hannock.  By  a  swift  march  he  went  over  the  Bull  Run  Mountain  at  Thoroughfare  Gap,  and  at  daylight 
the  next  morning  he  was  at  Manassas  Junction  on  the  railway  between  the  Army  of  Virginia  and  the 
National  Capital.  Pope  took  measures  for  the  capture  of  Jackson  or  to  prevent  his  uniting  with 
Longstreet,  then  coming  to  support  him;  but  the  latter  event  soon  occurred  at  Groveton,  not  far  from 
the  Bull  Run  battle-ground.  There,  on  the  2pth  of  August  (1862),  the  combined  Confederates 
fought  the  whole  of  Pope's  army  excepting  Banks's  troops.  The  struggle  was  severe  but  indecisive. 
The  loss  in  the  battle  at  Groveton  was  about  seven  thousand  men  on 
each  side. 

Not  doubting  that  he  would  be  instantly  reinforced  by  McClellan, 
who  was  at  Alexandria,  Popepreparedtorenewtheconflictthenextmorning. 
He  confidently  expected  rations  and  forage  from  Alexandria,  for  McClel 
lan  had  been  ordered  to  supply  them;  but  on  the  morning  of  the  .^oth, 
when  it  was  too  late  to  retreat  and  perilous  to  stand  still,  Pope  received 
an  astounding  note  from  General  Franklin,  written  by  direction  of 
McClellan,  that  "rations  and  forage  would  be  loaded  into  the  available 
wagons  and  cars"  as  soon  as  he  (Pope)  should  send  a  cavalry  escort  for  the 
train!  It  was  impossible.  Assured  that  he  would  not  receive  support 
from  McClellan,  Pope  was  compelled  to  fight  under  great  disadvantages. 
Deceived  by  what  appeared  to  be  a  retreat  of  Lee's  army,  he  was  drawn 
into  an  ambuscade  on  a  part  of  the  former  battle-ground  of  Bull  Run, 
not  far  from  Groveton,  and  there  a  most  sanguinary  conflict  ensued. 
The  Nationals  were  defeated;  and  flying  across  Bull  Run  to  Centreville, 
they  were  there  reinforced  by  the  troops  of  Franklin  and  Summer.  Pope 
had  labored  hard  under  many  difficulties;  and  he  complained  bitterly 
of  a  lack  of  co-operation  with  him,  in  his  later  struggles,  by  McClellan 


GENERAL  PHIL  KEARNEY 


,1    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


299 


MAJOR-GENERAL  N.  P.  BANKS 


GENERAL  W.  B.  FRANKLIN 


GENERAL  E.  V.  SUMNER  AND  STAFF 


300 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


BRIG  GEN,  S.W.MORGAN. 


and  some  of  his  subordinates.  After  the  most  strenuous  efforts  of  the  President  and  General  Halleck  to 
have  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  join  the  Army  of  Virginia  in  confronting  Lee,  Pope  was  joined  by  only 
about  twenty  thousand  of  the  ninety-one  thousand  who  were  at  Harrison's  Landing.  McClellan  seemed 
more  ready  to  give  advice  than  to  obey  orders.  "I  am  not  responsible  for  the  past,  and  cannot  be  for 
the  future,"  he  wrote  to  Halleck,  "unless  I  receive  authority  to  dispose  of  the  available  troops  according 
to  my  judgment."  And  after,  by  delays,  he  had  thwarted  the  efforts  of  the  government  to  get  Franklin's 
corps  in  a  position  to  give  Pope  much-needed  aid  on  the  2pth,  and  Halleck  had  urged  him  to  act  promptly 
in  finding  out  where  the  enemy  was,  for  he  was  ' '  tired  of  guesses, ' '  McClellan  telegraphed  to  the  President, 
saying:  "I  am  clear  that  one  of  two  courses  should  be  adopted.  First  to  concentrate  all  our  available 
forces  to  open  communication  with  Pope;  second,  to  leave  Pope  to  get  out  of  his  scrape,  and  at  once  use 
all  our  means  to  make  the  Capital  safe." 

Lee  was  afraid  to  attack  the  Nationals  at  Centreville,  so  he  sent  Jackson  on  another  flank  movement 
which  brought  on  a  battle  at  Chantilly,  north  of 
Fairfax  Court-House.  It  was  fought  in  a  cold  and 
drenching  rain.  For  a  while  the  conflict  was  very 
severe,  and  in  it  Generals  Philip  Kearney  and  Isaac 
A.  Stephens  perished.  The  losses  on  each  side 
were  large.  The  Nationals,  under  General  Birney, 
held  the  field  that  night,  and  the  next  day  the 
broken  and  demoralized  army  was  sheltered  be 
hind  the  fortifications  around  Washington  city. 
Pope  now  repeated,  with  great  earnestness,  a  re 
quest  to  leave  the  Army  of  Virginia  and  return  to 
the  West.  His  desire  was  gratified.  Then  the 
A  rmy  of  Virginia  disappeared  as  a  separate  organi 
zation  and  became  a  part  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac,  and  McClellan  was  placed  in  command  of  all 
the  troops  defending  the  Capital.  The  disasters 
which  had  befallen  the  armies  of  the  Potomac 
and  of  Virginia  caused  a  momentary  gloom  to  fall 
upon  the  spirits  of  the  loyal  people,  but  it  was  soon  dispelled.  Public  opinion  throughout  the  loyal  states 
demanded  that  it  was  time  for  more  aggressive  work;  the  vexatious  delays  had  become  unbearable. 

At  the  request  of  the  governors  of  many  States,  the  President,  on  the  first  of  July  (1862), 
called  for  three  hundred  thousand  volunteers  to  serve  during  the  war;  and  in  August  he  called 
for  three  hundred  thousand  more,  for  three  months,  with  the  understanding  that  an  equal  number 
would  be  drafted  from  the  citizens  who  were  between  eighteen  and  forty-five  years  of  age,  if 
they  did  not  appear  among  the  volunteers.  These  calls  were  cheerfully  responded  to;  and  the 
Confederate  government,  alarmed,  ordered  General  Lee  to  make  a  desperate  effort  to  capture 
Washington  city  before  the  new  army  should  be  brought  into  the  field.  Lee  was  immediately  reinforced. 
Perceiving  the  folly  of  making  a  direct  attack  upon  the  well-fortified  National  Capital,  he  crossed 
the  Potomac  above  that  city  (near  the  Point  of  Rocks)  into  Maryland  to  assail  Baltimore,  and  if 
successful,  to  fall  upon  Washington  in  the  rear.  He  made  the  passage  with  almost  his  entire  army,  and 
on  the  7th  of  September  was  encamped  at  Frederick,  on  the  Monocacy.  There,  on  the  8th,  he 
issued  a  stirring  appeal,  in  the  form  of  a  proclamation,  to  the  people  of  Maryland,  and  raised  the 
standard  of  revolt.  He  did  not  doubt  that  thousands  would  resort  to  it;  on  the  contrary,  he  lost 
more  men  by  desertion  than  he  gained  by  recruiting  there. 

When  General  McClellan  heard  of  Lee's  invasion  of  Maryland,  he  left  General  Banks, 
with  some  troops,  to  defend  Washington,  and  crossing  the  Potomac  above  the  National  Capital, 
with  about  ninety  thousand  men,  he  advanced  cautiously  toward  Frederick,  which  Lee  evacuated 
at  their  approach.  There  McClellan  discovered  Lee's  plan  for  seizing  Washington.  It  was 
to  take  possession  of  Harper's  Ferry  and  open  communication  with  Richmond  by  way  ot  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,  and  then  marching  toward  Pennsylvania,  entice  McClellan  far  in  that  direction. 
At  a  proper  moment  Lee  was  to  turn  suddenly,  smite  and  defeat  his  antagonist,  and  then  march 
upon  Washington. 

It  is  related  that  when  the  head  of  Lee's  army  led  by  "Stonewall  Jackson"  entered  Frederick, 
Barbara  Frietchie,  a  very  old  woman,  in  defiance  of  an  order  for  hauling  down  every  Union  flag,  kept 
one  flying  from  the  dormer  window  of  her  house  near  the  bridge  over  the  Monocacy  Creek,  in  the  town. 


BRIG  GEN. 
w.P.  CARLIN. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


301 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  HOOKER  AND  STAFF 


GENERAL  HOOKER'S  HEADQUARTERS  DURING  BATTLE  OK  AXTIKTAM 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  HOOKER 


302 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


Seeing  it,  Jackson  ordered  his  riflemen  to  shoot  away  the  staff, 
snatched  it  up,  and  leaning,  says  Whittier, 


When  it  fell  the  patriotic  Barbara 


MAJOR-GENERAL  D.  N.  COUCH 

MAJOR-GENERAL  GEORGE  STONE  MAN 

MAJOR-GENERAL  W.  F.  SMITH  MAJOR-GENERAL  SILAS  CASEY 


"  Far  out  on  the  window  sill , 
She  shook  it  forth  with  a  royal  will ; 
'Shoot,  if  you  must,  this  old  gray  head, 
But  spare  your  country's  flag,'  she  said. 
A  shade  of  sadness,  a  blush  of  shame, 
Over  the  face  of  the  leader  came : 
The  nobler  nature  within  him  stirr'd 
To  life  at  that  woman's  deed  and  word; 
'Who  touches  a  hair  of  yon  gray  head, 
Dies  like  a  dog!     March  on!'  he  said. 
All  day  long  through  Frederick  street 
Sounded  the  tread  of  marching  feet. 
All  day  long  that  free  flag  tost 
Over  the  head  of  the  rebel  host." 

The  Nationals  followed  the  Confed- 
federates  from  Frederick,  in  two  columns, 
over  the  South  Mountain  into  the  beauti 
ful  valley  of  the  Antietam  Creek.  The 
right  and  centre  of  the  Nationals  moved 
by  the  way  of  Turner's  Gap,  Burnside 
leading  the  advance;  and  the  left,  com 
posed  of  Franklin's  corps,  by  way  of 
Crampton's  Gap,  on  the  same  range, 
nearer  Harper's  Ferry.  At  Turner's  Gap, 
Burnside  fought  a  desperate  battle  on  the  i_Lth  of  September;  and  at  the  same  time  Franklin  was  trying 
to  force  his  way  at  Crampton's  Gap,  to  get  between  General  Lee  and  Harper's  Ferry,  where  Colonel 
Miles,  a  Marylander,  was  in  command  of  National  troops.  The  strife  at  Turner's  Gap  ceased  at 
dark,  with  a-loss-to-the  Nationals  of  about  fifteen  hundred  men,  of  whom  a  little  more  than  three  hundred 
were  killed.  Among  the  latter  was  the  gallant  General  Reno.  The  Nationals  intended  to  renew  the 
•  battle  in  the  morning;  but  the  Confederates  withdrew  under  cover  of  the  night,  and  Lee  concentrated 
his  forces  on  Antietam  Creek,  near  Sharpsburg.  Franklin,  in  the  meantime,  had  fought  his  way  over  the 
Mountain  into  Pleasant  Valley;  and  on  the  evening  of  the  i-jth  (September)  was  within  six  miles  of 
Harper's  Ferry,  which  was  then  invested  by  a  strong  force  under  "Stonewall"  Jackson.  The  Confederates 
held  the  advantageous  positions  of  Maryland  and  Loudon  Heights  on  each  side  of  the  Potomac,  which 
commanded  the  post  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  the  latter  could  be  preserved  from  capture  only  by  help 
from  outside.  This  Franklin  was  about  to  give;  but  before  he  could  do  so,  Miles  surrendered  the  post 
to  Jackson,  after  sending  away  his  cavalry.  This  unfortunate  and  unnecessary  movement  deprived  the 
Nationals  of  a  vast  advantage  which  they  might  have  gained  by  the  apparently  easy  possession  of  Harper's 
Ferry,  at  that  time.  Miles's  conduct  was  such,  that  his  loyalty  to  the  Republic  was  justly  suspected. 

On  the  1 6th  of  September,  the  Confederate  army  was  well  posted  on  the  heights  near  Sharpsbnrg, 
on  the  western  side  of  the  Antietam  Creek.  The  Confederates  had  been  followed  from  South  Mountain 
cautiously,  for  McClellan  professed  to  believe  them  to  be  in  overwhelming  numbers  on  his  front.  But 
Lee's  army  then  numbered  only  sixty  thousand,  while  McClellan's  effective  force  was  eighty-seven 
thousand.  The  latter  hesitated  to  attack ;  and  when  he  was  put  upon  the  defensive  by  a  sharp  artillery 
assault  by  Confederate  cannon,  the  crisis  had  passed  before  he  was  ready  to  respond.  Then  the  brave 
and  energetic  Hooker  was  permitted  to  cross  the  Antietam  writh  a  part  of  his  corps,  commanded  by 
Generals  Ricketts,  Meade,  and  Doubleday.  This  passage  was  made  on  the  extreme  right  of  the 
Confederates,  where  he  had  a  sharp  and  successful  combat  with  the  foe  led  by  General  Hood. 
Hooker's  men  lay  upon  their  arms  that  night.  Other  National  troops  passed  over  under  cover  of  the 
darkness.  These  were  the  divisions  of  Williams  and  Greene,  of  Mansfield's  corps,  who  bivouacked  a 
mile  in  Hooker's  rear. 

The  best  of  McClellan's  generals,  expecting  a  heavy  engagement  in  the  morning,  awaited  these 
movements  with  great  anxiety.  In  this  feeling  the  army  of  Lee  concurred.  At  dawn  on  the  morning 
of  the  iyth  (September,  1862),  Hooker  opened  the  battle  by  assailing  the  Confederate  left  with  aboi:t 
eighteen  thousand  men.  The  enemy  were  led  by  Jackson.  Hooker  had  Doubleday  on  his  right,  Mcaclc 
on  his  left,  and  Ricketts  in  the  centre.  With  varying  fortunes  the  contest  raged  on  that  wing  of  the 
army  and  along  the  centre  until  late  in  the  afternoon.  The  National  chief,  with  a  lofty  faith  that  all 
would  be  well,  did  not  leave  his  room  at  Pry's  (his  headquarters)  that  morning  until  eight  o'clock,  when 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


303 


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304 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


the  hills  had  been  echoing  the  cannon-thunder  for  hours.  Then  he  went  out  and  viewed  the  progress  of  the 
battle  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  Antietam,  where  he  held  Porter's  corps,  with  artillery,  and  Pleasanton's 
cavalry  in  reserve  until  toward  evening,  when  he  sent  some  troops  to  assist  the  fighters. 

Meanwhile  General  Burnside,  with  the  left  wing  of  the  Nationals,  had  been  holding  in  check,  and 
fighting  the  Confederate  right  under  Longstreet,  since  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  with  varying  success; 
and  he  was  on  the  point  of  gaining  a  victory  there,  when  the  Confederates  were  reinforced  by  General 
A.  P.  Hill's  division,  which  had  hurried  up  from  Harper's  Ferry  to  the  support  of  Lee.  Darkness  ended 
the  struggle,  which  had  lasted  from  twelve  to  fourteen  hours.  Both  armies  were  severely  smitten.  The 
Nationals  lost  twelve  thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy  men,  and  McClellan  estimated  the  Confederate 
loss  to  have  been  much  greater.  The  advantage  was  decidedly  with  the  Nationals  that  night.  Lee's 
army,  shattered  and  disorganized,  and  his  supplies  nearly  exhausted,  was  without  reinforcements  near; 
while  McClellan's  was  joined  the  next  morning  by  fourteen  thousand  fresh  troops.  A  vigorous  movement 
on  his  part,  that  morning,  might  have  put  the  whole  Confederate  force  into  McClellan's  hands  as 

prisoners  of  war;  but  with  chronic  hesitation  and 
indecision,  he  refused  to  allow  his  army  to  pursue 
the  retreating  foe  until  thirty-six  hours  after  the 
battle.  His  reasons  for  his  dilatoriness  were  given 
in  an  apologetic  tone,  in  his  report,  as  follows: 
"Virginia  was  lost,  Washington  was  menaced, 
Maryland  invaded — the  National  cause  could 
afford  no  risks  of  defeat." 

When,  on  the  morning  of  the  igth  of  Septem 
ber,  McClellan  advanced,  Lee  had  fled,  under 
cover  of  the  night,  and  was  with  his  shattered  army 
behind  strong  batteries  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the 
Potomac.  A  feeble  pursuit  was  attempted  and 
abandoned.  Two  brigades  crossed  the  -river,  and 
were  surprised  and  driven  back  into  Maryland, 
when  Lee,  counting  upon  McClellan's  habitual 
slowness,  moved  leisurely  up  the  Shenandoah  Val 
ley.  McClellan  took  possession  of  abandoned 
Harper's  Ferry,  and  called  for  reinforcements  and 
supplies  to  enable  him  to  pursue  the  fugitives ;  and 
ten  days  afterward,  when  the  news  was  hourly  ex 
pected  that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  were  in  swift 

pursuit  of  Lee's  shattered  columns/the  commander  of  the  National  army  proclaimed  that  he  intended 
to  hold  his  troops  where  they  were,  and  "attack  the  enemy  should  he  attempt  to  cross  into  Maryland." 
The  President,  astounded  by  this  declaration,  hastened  to  McClellan's  headquarters,  in  person,  to 
ascertain  the  true  state  of  the  case.  He  was  so  well  satisfied  that  the  army  was  capable  of  a  successful 
pursuit  at  once,  that  he  ordered  McClellan  (October  6,  1862)  to  cross  the  Potomac  immediately  for  that 
purpose.  Twenty  precious  days  were  afterward  spent  in  correspondence  between  the  disobedient  general 
and  his  patient  superiors,  before  the  former  obeyed,  during  which  time  Lee's  army  was  thoroughly 
recruited  in  every  way,  and  his  communications  with  Richmond  were  well  established. 

The  beautiful  month  of  October  passed  away.  The  roads  in  Virginia  were  never  in  a  finer  condition ; 
and  the  loyal  people  were  becoming  exceedingly  impatient,  when,  on  the  2d  of  November,  McClellan 
announced  that  his  great  army  was  once  more  on  the  soil  of  Virginia,  prepared  to  move  southward  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Blue  Ridge  instead  of  up  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  as  he  had  been  ordered  to  do.  The 
patience  of  the  Government  and  its  friends  was  now  exhausted.  They  had  lost  faith  in  McClellan's 
ability  or  disposition  to  achieve  a  decisive  victory  over  the  Confederates,  and  on  the  5th  of  November 
he  was  superseded  in  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  by  General  Ambrose  E.  Burnside,  of 
Rhode  Island.  So  ended  General  McClellan's  unsuccessful  military  career.  He  then  entered  the  field 
of  politics  in  opposition  to  the  administration,  and  was  equally  unsuccessful  there. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  now  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  in  number.  It  was 
reorganized  by  Burnside;  and  he  took  measures  for  the  early  seizure  of  the  Confederate  capital  rather 
than  for  the  capture  or  destruction  of  the  Confederate  army.  He  made  Aquia  Creek,  on  the  Potomac, 
his  base  of  supplies;  and  he  hastened  to  place  his  army  at  or  near  Fredericksburg,  on  the  Rappahannock, 
from  which  he  might  march  on  Richmond.  Lee,  in  the  meantime,  had  gathered  about  eighty  thousand 


GENERAL  IRVIN  AlcDowEi.L  AND  STAFF 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


305 


BATTER?  ix  ACTION  AT  FREDERICKSBURG 


REMOVING  WOUNDED  AFTER  BATTLE  OF  FREDERICKSBURG 


BATTLKHELO  OF  FREDERICKSUURG  FROM  MARVE'S  HEIGHTS 


306 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


men  on  the  Heights  in  the  rear  of  Fredericksburg,  with  three  hundred  cannon,  and  had  destroyed  all 
the  bridges  that  spanned  the  Rappahannock  in  that  vicinity. 

It  was  the  second  week  in  December  when  the  opposing  great  armies  in  Virginia  were  lying  in  parallel 
lines  within  cannon-shot  of  each  other,  with  a  narrow  river  between  them.  Sixty  thousand  National 
troops,  under  Generals  Sumner  and  Hooker,  lay  in  front  of  Fredericksburg,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty 
cannon  on  Stafford  Heights  under  the  chief  direction  of  General  Hunt ;  and  the  corps  of  Franklin,  about 
forty  thousand  strong,  was  encamped  about  two  miles  below.  The  troops  could  cross  the  river  only  on 
pontoons  or  floating  bridges;  and  on  the  nth  of  December,  early  in  the  morning,  the  engineers  went 
quietly  at  work  to  construct  five  of  them.  These  men  were  assailed  and  driven  away  by  sharp-shooters 
concealed  in  buildings  on  the  opposite  shore.  The  batteries  on  Stafford  Heights  then  opened  a  heavy 
fire  on  the  town  to  drive  out  the  enemy,  and  the  city  was  set  on  fire,  in  many  places,  by  the  shells;  but 
the  sharp-shooters  remained.  Then  a  party  of  volunteers  went  across  the  river  in  open  boats,  in  the  face 
of  flying  bullets  from  Mississippi  rifles,  to  dislodge  the  sharp-shooters.  A  drummer-boy  from  Michigan, 
named  Hendershot,  begged  leave  to  go  along,  but  was  refused  permission.  Then  he  asked  and  obtained 
permission  to  push  off  one  of  the  boats,  when  he  allowed  himself  to  be  dragged  into  the  water.  Clinging 

|     to  the  vessel,  he  was  conveyed  to  the  opposite  shore.     Several 

men  in  the  boat  were  killed;  and  when  the  boy  was  climbing 
the  bank,  his  drum  was  torn  in  pieces  by  a  flying  fragment  of 
an  exploded  shell.  Then  he  seized  the  musket  of  a  slain  com 
panion,  and  fought  gallantly  until  the  sharp-shooters  were 
driven  away  or  captured.  The  bridges  were  finished,  and  by 
the  evening  of  the  1 2th  a  greater  portion  of  the  National  army 
occupied  Fredericksburg. 

On  the  morning  of  the  i3th  the  National  army  made  a 
simultaneous  assault  all  along  the  National  line,  where  a  most 
sanguinary  battle  occurred,  which  ended  with  a  repulse  of 
Burnside's  forces  with  a  loss  of  almost  fourteen 
thousand  men.  In  this  struggle,  Generals  Frank 
lin,  Couch,  Hooker,  Sumner,  Meade,  Doubleday, 
Howard,  Humphrey,  Wilcox,  Hancock,  French, 
Sturgis,  Getty,  Meagher  and  others  were  con 
spicuous.  In  the  fight,  the  Confederates  lost 
about  half  as  many  as  the  number  lost  by  the 
Nationals.  Burnside,  anxious  to  gain  a  victory, 
was  disposed  to  renew  the  battle  the  next  day,  but 
was  dissuaded  by  some  of  his  best  officers,  and  his 
troops  remained  on  the  city  side  of  the  river  until 
the  night  of  the  isth  unmolested  by  the  Confed 
erates.  Then,  under  cover  of  darkness,  they 
crossed  the  stream  with  all  their  cannon,  taking 
up  the  pontoons  behind  them. 

This  failure  produced  some  dissatisfaction, 
and  Burnside  was  soon  afterward  superseded  in 
the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  by  General  Joseph  Hooker.  It  was  the  misfortune,  not  the  fault 
of  the  gallant  Burnside,  that  he  did  not  succeed  at  Fredericksburg.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  now  went 
into  winter  quarters  on  the  borders  of  the  Rappahannock. 

Hooker's  first  care  was  to  prevent  desertion,  secure  the  return  of  absentees  on  furlough,  and  to  weed 
noxious  materials  out  of  the  army.  Disloyal  officers  were  dismissed  as  soon  as  they  were  discovered; 
and  the  evils  of  idleness  were  prevented  by  keeping  the  soldiers  employed.  The  express  trains  in  the 
service  of  the  Government  were  regularly  searched,  and  all  property  belonging  to  private  citizens  was 
confiscated  or  destroyed.  The  army  was  comfortably  hutted;  and  important  changes  were  made  in 
its  organization  and  its  staff  department.  The  cavalry,  hitherto  scattered  among  the  grand  divisions 
and  without  organization,  as  a  corps,  were  consolidated,  and  were  soon  placed  in  a  condition  of  greater 
efficiency  than  had  ever  before  been  known  in  the  service;  and  to  improve  them,  they  were  sent  out 
upon  raids  within  the  Confederate  lines  whenever  the  condition  of  the  roads  would  permit.  The  region 
between  Bull  Run  and  the  Rapidan  became  the  theatre  of  many  daring  exploits  by  the  horsemen 
of  both  armies. 


MARYE'S  HOUSE  ON  MARYK'S  HEIGHTS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


307 


PART  OF  COMPANY  OF  MAINE  INFANTRY  AFTER  CHARGE  AT  MARYE'S  HEIGHTS,  FREDERICKSBURG 


RUINS  IN  FREDERICKSBURG  AFTKR  THE  BATTLE 


308 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

National  Rule  in  the  Southwest — Guerrillas — Invasion  of  Kentucky — Cincinnati  Saved — Battle  at  Mumfordsville  and  Perryville — 
Army  of  the  Cumberland — Battle  at  luka  Springs — General  Orel's  Movements — Battle  at  Corinth  and  Operations  near — Capture 
of  Baton  Rouge — Destruction  of  the  "Arkansas" — Operations  in  Arkansas  and  Louisiana — Battle  at  Murfreesboro' — Emancipation 
Proclamation — The  Confederate  Government — Davis  President — Doings  of  the  Confederate  Congress — British  Sympathy  with 
the  Confederates — The  "Alabama" — Operations  against  Vicksburg — Operations  on  the  Mississippi — Battles  at  Port  Gibson,  Ray 
mond,  Jackson,  Champion  Hills  and  Big  Black  River — Vicksburg  Invested. 

THE  Lower  Mississippi,  from  its  mouth  to  New  Orleans,  was  in  the  possession  of  the  National 
military  and  naval  forces  under  General  Butler  and  Commodore  Farragut,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  summer  of  1862.     So,  also,  was  the  same  river,  from  Memphis  to  St.  Louis,  controlled  by 
the  Government  troops  and  vessels;  while  the  National  forces  held  sway  over  southern  Tennessee,  and 
northern  Alabama  and  Mississippi. 

Although  the  great  armies  of  the  Confederates  had  been  driven  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee, 
the  absence  of  any  considerable  Union  force  excepting  on  the  southern  border  of  the  latter  State,  permitted 
a  most  distressing  guerrilla  warfare  to  be  carried  on  within  the  borders  of  those  commonwealths  by 
mounted  bands,  who,  with  gallant  leaders, 
hovered  upon  the  rear  and  flanks  of  the 
National  forces,  or  roamed  at  will  over  the 
whole  country,  plundering  the  Union  in 
habitants.  One  of  their  leaders  was  John 
Morgan,  a  bold  Alabamian,  at  the  head  of 
dashing  mounted  men,  who  appeared  in 
Kentucky,  and  raiding  through  that  State 
prepared  the  way  for  the  advance  of  an  in 
vading  army  from  Chattanooga,  led  by 
General  Braxton  Bragg.  Another  mounted 
force,  led  by  N.  B.  Forrest,  was  sweeping 
over  a  portion  of  Tennessee  for  the  same 
purpose  at  the  same  time ;  and  at  the  mid 
dle  of  July  he  threatened  the  Union  post  at 
Nashville,  then  in  command  of  General 
Negley.  In  the  meantime,  General  Bragg 
was  pushing  toward  Kentucky  by  a  route  eastward  of  Nashville,  while  General  Buell  was  moving  in  the 
same  direction,  on  a  parallel  line,  to  foil  the  invaders. 

General  E.  Kirby  Smith,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  leading  the  van  of  Bragg's  army,  entered  Kentucky 
from  East  Tennessee,  and  pushed  on  rapidly  to  Lexington,  fighting  and  defeating  a  National  force,  on 
the  3oth  of  August,  under  General  M.  D.  Manson,  near  Richmond  in  that  State.  The  Secessionists 
of  Kentucky  warmly  welcomed  the  invaders,  and  swelled  their  ranks  at  every  step.  The  alarmed  Legis 
lature  of  Kentucky,  sitting  at  Frankfort,  fled  to  Louisville,  while  Smith  pressed  vigorously  on  in  the 
direction  of  the  Ohio  River,  with  the  intention  of  capturing  and  plundering  Cincinnati.  He  was  unex 
pectedly  confronted  on  the  southern  side  of  the  Ohio  by  strong  fortifications  and  a  considerable  National 
force  under  the  energetic  General  Lewis  Wallace,  who  had  proclaimed  martial  law  in  Cincinnati, 
Covington  and  Newport,  and  in  a  stirring  proclamation,  demanded  the  instant  co-operation  of  the 
people,  "Citizens  for  the  labor — soldiers  for  the  battle,"  was  the  principle  announced.  The  response 
was  wonderful.  In  the  course  of  a  few  hours  he  had  at  his  command  an  army  of  workers  and  fighters 
forty  thousand  strong.  The  invader  recoiled ;  and  falling  back  to  the  Kentucky  State  capital  (Frankfort), 
seized  it,  and  there  awaited  the  arrival  of  Bragg,  who  crossed  the  Cumberland  River  and  entered  Kentucky 
on  the  5th  of  September,  with  forty  regiments  and  forty  cannon. 

Bragg's  advance,  eight  thousand  strong,  under  General  J.  R.  Chalmers,  encountered  a  National 
force  under  Colonel  T.  J.  Wilder,  at  Mumfordsville,  on  the  i_|.th  of  September.  It  was  on  the  line  of 
the  Nashville  and  Louisville  Railway.  A  battle  began  at  dawn  and  lasted  about  five  hours,  when  the 
Confederates  were  repulsed;  but  two  days  afterward  a  stronger  force  under  General  (Bishop)  Polk  fell 
upon  Wilder,  and  after  a  severe  struggle  he  was  compelled  to  yield  to  vastly  superior  numbers.  Bragg 
was  elated  by  this  success,  and  joining  Smith,  at  Frankfort,  he  prepared  to  make  a  supposed  easy  march 


BVT.   MAJ.-GENERAL  J.  R.  BROOKE 
MAT. -GENERAL  J.  SEDGWICK  BRIG. -GENERAL  W.  W.  BURNS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


309 


VIEWS  OF  PREDERICKSBURG 


310 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


FUGITIVE  NEGROES  AND  RAPPAHANNOCK  STATION 


to  Louisville,  his  destination.  His  army  then  numbered  about  sixty-five  thousand  effective  men,  and 
the  movements  of  Buell  seemed  too  tardy  to  promise  serious  impediments.  Bragg  was  mistaken.  Buell, 
who  had  kept  abreast  of  Bragg,  suddenly  turned  upon  him  with  about  sixty  thousand  men,  and  near 
the  little  town  of  Perryville,  in  Boyle  county,  they  had  a  fierce  combat  on  the  8th  of  October.  In  that 
battle  the  Nationals  lost  about  four  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty  men;  but  the  invaders  were  so 
roughly  handled  that  they  fled  in  haste, 
that  night,  toward  East  Tennessee,  fol 
lowed  by  their  marauding  bands,  who  had 
plundered  the  inhabitants  in  every  direc 
tion.  They  started  in  their  retreat  with  a 
wagon-train  of  stolen  property,  forty  miles 
in  length,  but  were  compelled  to  leave  a 
large  portion  of  it  behind.  The  whole  ex 
pedition  seems  to  have  had  no  higher  aims 
than  that  of  a  plundering  raid.  It  proved 
ci.  astrous  to  Bragg's  army,  and  would 
have  caused  its  total  ruin  if  that  army  had 
been  vigorously  pur.  ued.  Soon  afterward, 
General  Rosecrans,  who  had  won  substan 
tial  victories  in  northern  Mississippi,  suc 
ceeded  Buell  in  the  command  of  the  A  nny 
of  the  Ohio,  and  its  name  was  changed  to 
that  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland. 

While  General  Bragg  was  plundering 
the  Kentuckians,  bands  of  Confederates 
were  raiding  through  western  Tennessee  to 
draw  attention  from  the  invaders;  and  the  army  in  northern  Mississippi,  now  led  by  General  Beauregard, 
had  advanced  toward  Tennessee  under  Generals  Van  Dorn  and  Price.  General  Rosecrans  was  then  in 
command  of  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  charged  with  the  duty  of  holding  the  region  lately  repossessed 
by  the  Nationals  in  consequence  of  the  evacuation  of  Corinth  and  the  valor  of  Mitchel. 

Rosecrans  was  at  Tuscumbia  when  General  Grant  informed  him  that  danger  was  gathering  westward 
of  him;  and  when  he  moved  toward  Corinth,  Price  advanced  toward  luka  Springs,  a  summer  watering- 
place  in  northern  Mississippi,  to  meet  him.  Near  the  village  of  that  name,  Rosecrans  and  Price  met 
en  the  igth  of  September,  and  fought  a  most  severe  battle.  The  disparity  in  numbers  was  very  great. 
Price  had  full  eleven  thousand  men,  while  Rosecrans  did  not  have  more  than  three  thousand  men 
actually  engaged  in  the  struggle.  During  the  battle,  which  was  extermely  fierce,  there  was  a  desperate 
contest  for  the  possession  of  an  Indiana  battery  which  the  Confederates  had  seized  after  all  the  horses 
belonging  to  it.  and  seventy-two  of  its  artillerymen,  were  killed.  It  was  fought  for  hand-to-hand. 
Charges  and  counter-charges  were  made;  until,  at  length,  the  Confederate  soldiers  dragged  the  cannon 
off  the  field,  with  ropes.  But  the  Confederates  were  so  badly  beaten  in  the  battle,  that  they  fled  south 
ward  in  great  haste  and  confusion.  The  National  loss  was  nearly  eight  hundred ;  that  of  the  Confederates 
over  fourteen  hundred.  Meanwhile  General  Ord,  whom  Grant  had  sent  to  aid  Rosecrans,  had  been 
watching  the  movements  of  a  body  of  the  Confederates  who  were  making  feints  against  Corinth.  He 
had,  according  to  orders,  marched  within  four  miles  of  luka;  instructed  to  wait  there  until  he  should 
hear  Rosecrans's  great  guns.  A  high  wind  from  the  north  prevented  their  sounds  reaching  him.  Crd 
lay  there  until  the  next  morning,  when  he  pushed  on  toward  luka  and  found  Rosecrans  a  victor  i  nd 
his  foe  departed.  Then  Ord  retired  to  Bolivar,  between  Corinth  and  Memphis,  while  Rosecrans  con 
centrated  his  troops  at  Corinth  and  prepared  to  meet  an  impending  attack  by  the  combined  forces  of 
Van  Dorn  and  Price.  These,  about  forty  thousand  in  number,  were  united  at  Ripley,  and  at  the  close 
of  September  they  moved  on  Corinth.  At  that  place  the  opposing  armies  battled  fiercely  on  the  ^d 
and  4th  of  October,  when  the  result  was  the  repulse  of  the  Confederates,  the  pursuit  of  them  to  Ripley, 
and  a  loss  on  the  part  of  the  Nationals  of  more  than  twenty-three  hundred  men.  The  Confederates 
lost  about  nine  thousand  men,  including  prisoners.  On  their  retreat  a  part  of  Van  Dorn's  troops  fought 
the  forces  of  Ord  at  the  Hatchee  River,  where  the  latter  was  severely  wounded.  For  a  while  after  this 
event  there  was  comparative  repose  in  General  Grant's  department. 

The  only  obstructions  to  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River,  in  the  spring  of  1862,  were 
at  Vicksburg  and  at  Port  Hudson  below.  Vicksburg,  a  city  of  Mississippi,  situated  on  a  group  of  high 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


311 


GROUP  OF  CONFEDERATES  AT  FREDERICKSBURG 


,  Canvas  pontoon  bridges  oiser  Panning 


BETHEL  CHURCH,  HEADQUARTERS  OF  GENERAL  BURNSIDE,  AND  OTHER  VIEWS 


A     II  I  S  TO  R  V 


<     T  II  E    CI  VI  L     \V  A  R 


eminences  known  as  the  Walnut  Hills,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Mississippi  River,  at  a  bold  turn  in 

the  stream,  was  a  point  of  great  military  importance,  for  it  had  been  fortified  by  the  Confederates  and 

was  daily  growing  stronger.      It  promised  to  beeome  impregnable  for  those  who  were  opposing  the  grand 

sehetne  of  the  National  Government  for  gaining  the  absolute  eontrol  of  that 
great  stream,   and  thus  securing  important,  portions  of  the  Confederacy. 
Toward  the  seizure  of  that,  point,  operations  in  the  southwest  were  soon 
tending.     To  remove  these  obstructions,  Farragut,  in  command  of  National 
vessels,  bent,  his  energies.     vSo  early  as  the  ;th  of  May  (1862),  Baton  Rouge, 
the  capital  of  Louisiana,  had  been  captured  by  the  National  forces  by  land 
and  water,  when  Farragut:,  went  up  the  river  to  Vicksburg  and  there  held 
communication  with  the  commanders  of  gunboats  above. 
Finally,  lie  attacked  the  batteries  there  (June  2ft);  and  lie 
also  attempted  to  cut  a  canal  across  a  peninsula  in  front, 
of  Vicksburg,  so  as  to  avoid  the  Confederate  guns  at  the 
city  altogether;  but  he  failed  in  his  undertakings,  and  de 
scended  the  river  with  his  vessels.     This  movement  was 
followed,  early  in  August,  by  an  attack  upon  Baton  Rouge, 
by  a  Confederate  force  led  by  (ieneral  J.  C.   Breckinridge. 
The  post  was  then  in  command  of  General  Thomas  Wil 
liams.     There  was  a  desperate  struggle   for  about,   two 
hours,  in  which  the  Twenty-first  Indiana  Regiment   was 
conspicuous.      It  lost  all  of  its  field  officers  before  the  end 
of  the  action.     Seeing  this,  General  Williams  placed  him 
self  at  its  head,  exclaiming,  "Boys,  your  field-officers  are 
all  gone;    I  will  lead  you!"     They  gave  him  three  hearty 
cheers,  when  a  bullet  passed  through  his  breast  and  he  fell 
dead.     He  had  just  issued  orders  for  the  line'  to  fall  back, 
which  it  did,  in  good  order,  with  Colonel  Cahill  of  the 
Ninth  Connecticut  in  chief  command.     The  Confederates, 
dreadfully  smitten,  also  fell  back,  and  then  retreated. 
The  insurgents  had  constructed  a  formidable  "ram,"  which  they  named  Arkansas.     With  it   they 

expected  to  sweep  every   National  vessel   from   the   Mississippi,   and   "drive  the  Yankees   from     New 

Orleans."     It  did  not  arrive  at  Baton  Rouge  in  time  to  engage  in  the  attack  upon  the  National  forces 

there;    but  on  the  morning  after  the  battle,  Commodore  Porter,  with  the  gunboat  Essex,  accompanied 

by  the  Cayuga  and  Sumtcr,  went  up  the  river  to  meet  her.     They  found  her  five  miles  above  Baton  Rouge. 

After  a  short  and  sharp  fight,  she  became  unmanageable,  and  was  headed  toward  the  river  bank  and 

set  on  fire.     Just  as  she  touched  the  shore  her  magazine  exploded,  and  the  monster  was  blown  into 

fragments. 

During  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1802,  there  were  some  stirring  events  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas. 

After  the  battle  at  Pea  Ridge,  Curtis  marched  eastward,  with  his  army,  to 

assist  in  military  operations  on  the  borders  of  the  Mississippi  River;    but   he 

remained  some  time  at  Helena,   menacing   Little  Rock  and  smiting  guerrilla 

bands  that  roamed  that  State.     Missouri  was  equally  infested  with  guerrillas; 

and  in  June  (1862)  that  Commonwealth  was  erected  into  a  separate  military 

district,  with  General  J.  M.  Schofield  at  its  head.      lie  was 

vigilant  and   active;    and   with   a    force   thirty   thousand 

strong,  scattered  over  the  State  in  six  divisions,  he  soon 

subdued,  in  a  great  degree,  the  numerous  roaming  bands 

that  overran  it.     From  April  until  September,  about  one 

hundred  battles  and  skirmishes  were  fought  in  that  State. 

Sehofield  drove  out   troops  that,  came  over  the  southern 

border  to  help  the  Missourians  in  arms,  and  these  fugitives 

formed  the  nucleus  of  a  force,  about  forty  thousand  strong, 

which  gathered  in  Arkansas  under  General  T.  C.  Ilindman, 

formerly  a  member  of  Congress. 

Leaving  Curtis  in  command  of  the  Missouri  district, 

Schofield  marched  against  Ilindman.  with  eight   thousand 


CiKNKK.M.    (i.    \V.    MoKKKl.1 


GENERAL  1C. 


.-1    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


313 


A  MICHIGAN  REC.IMENT  IN  CAMP 


GKNKRAI.  A.  R.  BfRssmF.  AND  STAFF 


314 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


troops  under  General  J.  G.  Blunt,  in  southern  Missouri.  With  these  he  sought  the  shy  Confederates  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Ozark  Mountains.  Blunt  attacked  a  portion  of  them  at  Fort  Wayne,  near  Maysville, 
on  the  22d  of  October,  and  drove  them  into  the  Indian  country.  A  week  later  a  cavalry  force,  under 
General  F.  T.  Herron,  struck  another  portion  on  the  White  River,  eight  miles  from  Fayetteville,  and 
drove  them  into  the  mountains.  Soon  after  this,  ill  health  compelled  Schoneld  to  leave  the  field,  when 
the  command  devolved  upon  General  Blunt. 

Hindman  now  determined  to  strike  a  decisive  blow  for  the  recovery  of  his  State  from  National 
control.  Late  in  November  he  had  gathered  about  twenty  thousand  men  on  the  western  borders  of 
Arkansas.  He  moved  against  Blunt,  and  on  the  28th  his  advance,  composed  of  Marmaduke's  cavalry, 
was  attacked  and  defeated  by  Blunt,  on  Boston  Mountains.  The  latter  then  took  position  at  Cane 
Hill,  when  Hindman,  with  eleven  thousand  men,  prepared  to  crush  him.  Blunt  sent  for  General  Herron, 
then  just  over  the.border,  in  Missouri,  to  come  and  help  him.  Herron  promptly  complied,  and  the 
combined  forces  fought  and  defeated  Hindman  at 
a  little  settlement  called  Prairie  Grove.  The 
Confederates  were  driven  in  confusion  over  the 
mountains. 

Meanwhile  there  had  been  stirring  events 
nearer  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  west  of  the' Mississippi. 
Texas  was  then  under  Confederate  rule.  So  early 
as  Ma}7,  1862,  Commander  Eagle,  with  a  small 
squadron  of  National  vessels,  appeared  before  Gal- 
veston,  and  demanded  its  surrender.  There  was 
a  prompt  refusal  to  comply;  and  so  the  matter 
remained  until  October  following,  when  the  civil 
authorities  of  that  city  surrendered  it  to  Commo 
dore  Renshaw  of  the  National  navy.  At  the  same 
time  General  Butler  sent  aggressive  expeditions 
into  the  interior  of  Louisiana.  The  most  impor 
tant  of  them  was  led  by  General  Godfrey  Weitzel, 
who  went  with  a  strong  force  to  "repossess"  the 

rich  La  Fourche  parish.  This  was  accomplished,  after  a  severe  engagement  at  Labadieville,  on  the 
of  October.  Very  soon  afterward  the  eastern  portions  of  Louisiana,  along  the  borders  of  the  Mississippi, 
were  brought  under  National  control.  On  the  xoth  of  December  following,  General  Butler  was  succeeded 
in  the  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf  by  General  N.  P.  Banks. 

The  year  1862  was  now  drawing  to  a  close.  General  Grant  had  concentrated  the  bulk  of  his  army 
at  Holly  Springs,  in  Mississippi,  where  he  was  confronted  by  Van  Dorn;  at  about  the  same  time,  General 
Rosecrans,  with  a  greater  part  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  was  moving  southward  to  attack  Bragg 
at  Murfreesboro',  below  Nashville.  Rosecrans  was  assisted  by  Generals  Thomas,  McCook,  Crittenden, 
Rousseau,  Palmer,  Sheridan,  J.  C.  Davis,  Wood,  Van  Cleve,  Hazen,  Negley,  Mathews  and  others;  and 
Bragg  had,  as  his  lieutenants,  Generals  Polk,  Breckenridge,  Hardee,  Kirby  Smith,  Cheatham,  Withers, 
Cleburne,  and  Wharton. 

On  the  3oth  of  December,  the  two  armies  lay  within  cannon-shot  of  each  other  on  opposite  sides  of 
Stone  River,  near  Murfreesboro'.  On  the  following  morning  a  sanguinary  battle  was  begun,  and  continued 
until  evening,  with  varied  success  and  fearful  losses.  Rosecrans  had  gallantly  conducted  the  fight  in 
person,  and  he  and  Bragg  prepared  to  renew  the  contest  on  the  following  morning,  the  first  of  January, 
1863.  That  day  was  spent  in  heavy  skirmishing;  but  on  the  morning  of  the  2d  a  terrific  struggle  was 
begun.  The  batteries  on  both  sides  were  masked,  and  they  were  worked  with  destructive  energy.  The 
dead  and  wounded  strewed  the  ground  over  scores  of  acres,  for  the  carnage  was  dreadful;  and,  at  one 
time,  it  seemed  as  if  the  total  destruction  of  both  armies  would  be  the  result.  At  length  seven  National 
regiments  made  a  simultaneous  charge,  by  which  the  Confederate  line  was  broken  into  fragments  and 
scattered  in  confusion.  These  regiments  were  the  Nineteenth  Illinois;  Eighteenth,  Twenty-first,  and 
Seventy -fourth  Ohio;  Seventy-eighth  Pennsylvania;  Eleventh  Michigan,  and  Thirty-seventh  Indiana. 
Victory  remained  with  Rosecrans,  and  Bragg  retreated  southward  to  Tullahoma,  while  his  antagonist 
occupied  the  battle-field  and  Murfreesboro'.  The  National  loss  in  the  battle  of  Stone  River  was  twelve 
thousand  men,  and  that  of  the  Confederates  ten  thousand.  The  relative  position  of  the  two  armies 
immediately  after  the  battle  remained  so  for  several  months  afterward. 

The  war  had  now  been  going  on  for  almost  two  years.     It  had  been  begun  by  the  politicians  of  the 


BRIG  GEN.GHOVER. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


315 


_-    . 

SOIDIERS 
WWIN&  WATEJ3 


^  ''.    •.  •  .*, -Jit-* -TV" 

*  •   ^  :f- 


Cooking  Tenu 


Headdaarto. 


Officers  And 


SANITARY  COMMISSION  AT  FREDERICKSBURG  AND  OTHKR  VIEWS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    }]' A  R 


slave-labor  States  for  the  purpose  of  perpetuating  the  slave-system,  which  gave  to  the  Confederate  cause 
the  chief  sinews  of  its  strength.  It  nurtured  a  producing  class  that  fed,  by  its  labor,  the  armies  arrayed 
against  the  life  of  the  Republic;  and  only  a  very  small  proportion  of  that  class  were  drawn  from  the 
pursuits  of  agriculture  to  the  camps.  Perceiving  this,  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  the  loyal 
people  resolved  to  destroy  the  system  by  some  method  of  abolition.  The  kind-hearted  Lincoln  proposed 
to  give  pecuniary  aid  to  any  State  government  which  might  provide  for  the  abolition  of  slavery ;  but  the 
interested  friends  of  that  system  everywhere  refused  to  listen.  Congress  proceeded  to  abolish  slavery 


in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
direct  control;  and,  finally, 
discretionary  powers  to  de- 
the  slaves  in  States  wherein 
nally,  late  in  September 
issued  a  proclamation,  in 
tice  that  it  was  his  purpose  to 
on  the  first  of  January,  1863, 
wherever  a  state  of  insurrec- 


over  which  that  body  had 
they  gave  the  President 
clare  the  emancipation  of 
insurrection  existed.  Fi- 
(1862),  President  Lincoln 
which  he  gave  public  no- 
declare  such  emancipation 
to  take  effect  immediately 
tion  might  then  exist,  un- 


AT  HARRISON'S  LANDING 

less  the  offenders  should  lay  down  their  arms.  This  friendly  warning — this  forbearance  to  strike  the  blow  that 
was  to  remove  the  manacles  from  millions  of  bondsmen — was  treated  by  the  masters  of  the  slaves  with  scorn. 
It  was  sneered  at  by  them,  as  an  act  of  sheer  impuissance.  It  was  compared  to  "the  Pope's  Bull  against 
the  comet;"  and,  because  of  this  menace,  resistance  to  the  Government  was  more  rampant  than  ever. 
It  was  evident  that  the  warning  would  be  ineffectual.  The  President  prepared  a  proclamation  of  emanci 
pation.  It  was  submitted  to  his  cabinet  and  approved;  and  on  the  first  of  January,  1863,  it  was  promul 
gated  with  the  whole  force  of  the  Republic — its  army,  its  navy,  and  its  judiciary;  its  Executive  and 
Legislative  powers — back  of  it  to  enforce  its  provisions.  The  moral  force  of  that  proclamation  was 
tremendous.  By  that  act  the  shackles  were  taken  from  the  personal  freedom  of  over  three  million  slaves. 
From  the  hour  of  the  promulgation  of  the  proclamation  of  emancipation,  the  power  of  the  enemies  of 
the  Government  began  to  wane,  and  the  star  of  their  own  future  prosperity  arose  with  beams  of  promise. 

Early  in  1862,  the  Confederate  government  was  changed  from  a  "provisional"  to  a  "permanent 
one."  The  "provisional  congress,"  made  up  of  delegates  chosen  by  conventions  of  politicians  and 
legislatures  of  States,  had  been  in  continuous  session  from  the  i8th  of  November,  1861,  until  the  i8th  of 
February,  1862,  when  its  term  expired  by  limitation.  On  the  same  day  a  congress,  professedly  elected 
by  the  people,  commenced  its  session  under  the  "permanent  constitution  of  the  Confederate  States."  I 
say  "professedly  elected  by  the  people."  The  following  was  the  method  pursued  in  Virginia,  as  presented 
in  an  editorial  article  in  a  leading  Richmond  journal,  in  carrying  on  a  popular  election: 

"It  being  necessary  to  form  a  ticket  of  electors,  and  the  time  being  too  short  to  call  a  convention  of 
the  people,  it  was  suggested  that  the  Richmond  editors  should  prepare  a  ticket,  thus  relieving  the  people  of 
the  trouble  of  making  selections.  The  ticket  thus  formed  has  been  presented."  Here  several  of  the  nom 
inees  were  named.  "Every  district  in  the  State,"  said  the  journal,  "is  embraced  in  this  editorial  report." 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


317 


VIEWS  os  THE  FIELD  WHERE  GENERAL  SUMXER  CHARGED.  SHOWING  MANY  DEAD  CONFEDERATES  IN  THE  TRENCHES 


318 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


BRIG. -GEN.  ISAAC  I.  .STEVENS 


In  the  permanent  Confederate  congress,  all  of  the  slave-labor  States  were  represented  excepting 
Maryland  and  Delaware.  The  oath  to  support  the  constitution  of  the  Confederate  States  was  admin 
istered  to  the  senators  by  R.  M.  T.  Hunter  of  Virginia,  and  to  the  representatives,  by  Howell  Cobb  of 

Georgia.  Thomas  Bocock,  of  Virginia,  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House. 
On  the  following  day  (February  19)  the  votes  for  president  of  the  Con 
federacy  were  counted,  and  were  found  to  be  one  hundred  and  nine  in 
number,  all  of  which  were  cast  for  Jefferson  Davis.  Three  days  after 
ward  Davis  was  inaugurated  president  for  six  years.  He  chose  for  his 
cabinet  Judah  P.  Benjamin  of  Louisiana,  secretary  of  state;  George  W. 
Randolph  of  Virginia,  secretary  of  war;  S.  R.  Mallory  of  Florida,  secre 
tary  of  the  navy;  Charles  G.  Memminger  of  South  Carolina,  secretary 
of  the  treasury,  and  Thomas  H.  Watts  of  Alabama,  attorney-general. 
Randolph  resigned,  and  James  A.  Seddon,  a  wealthy  citizen  of  Richmond, 
who  was  conspicuous  in  the  famous  "Peace  Convention"  at  Washington, 
was  chosen  to  fill  his  place. 

Measures  were  adopted  by  the  Confederate  Congress  to  prosecute 
the  war  against  the  Union  with  vigor.  It  was  declared,  by  joint  resolu 
tion,  that  it  was  the  unalterable  determination  of  the  people  of  the  Con 
federate  States  ' '  to  suffer  all  the  calamities  of  the  most  protracted  war ; ' ' 
and  that  they  would  never,  "on  any  terms,  politically  affiliate  with  a 
people  who  were  guilty  of  an  invasion  of  their  soil  and  the  butchery  of 
their  citizens. ' '  With  this  spirit  they  prosecuted  the  war  on  land ;  and 
with  the  aid  of  the  British  aristocracy,  ship-builders  and  merchants,  and 
the  tacit  consent  of  the  British  government,  they  were  enabled  to  keep 
afloat,  on  the  ocean,  some  active  vessels  for  plundering  American  com 
merce.  The  hoped-for  and  expected  result  was  the  driving  of  the  carrying-trade  between  the  United 
States  and  Europe  into  British  bottoms,  and  so  enriching  the  British  shipping  merchants.  This  was  the 
end  to  be  accomplished,  and  it  was  effected. 

The  most  formidable  of  these  Anglo-Confederate  plunderers  of  the  sea  was  the  Alabama,  which  was 
built,  armed,  manned  and  victualled  in  England.  She  sailed  under  the  British  flag,  and  was  received 
with  favor  in  every  British  port  that  she  entered.  In  the  last  three  months  of  the  year  1862,  she  destroyed 
by  fire  twenty-eight  helpless  American  merchant  vessels.  While  these  incendiary  fires,  kindled  by 
Englishmen  in  a  ship  fitted  out  as  a  sea-rover  by  Englishmen  commanded  by  a  Confederate  leader,  were 
illuminating  the  bosom  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  a  merchant  ship  (the  George  Griswold) ,  laden  with  provisions 
as  a  gift  for  starving  English  operatives  in  Lancashire,  who  had  been  deprived  of  work  and  food  by  the 
Civil  War  in  America,  and  whose  necessities  their  own  government  failed  to  relieve,  was  sent  from  the 
city  of  New  York,  convoyed  by  a  national  war  vessel  to  save  her  from  the  fury  of  the  British  sea-rover!  The 
sequel  of  the  Alabama  story  will  be  told  hereafter. 

At  the  beginning  of  1863,  the  National  Government  had  more  than  seven  hundred  thousand  soldiers 
in  its  service ;  and  up  to  that  time  the  loyal  people  had  furnished  twelve  hundred  thousand  troops,  mostly 
volunteers,  for  the  salvation  of  the  life  of  the  Republic.  The  theatre  of  war  had  become  co-extensive 
with  the  slave-labor  States;  and  at  that  time  the  capture  of  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson,  on  the  Mississippi 
River,  was  a  chief  object  of  the  Government.  Only 
between  these  places  was  that  river  free  from  the 
patrol  of  National  gunboats;  and  it  was  desirable 
to  break  this  connection  between  the  insurgents 
on  each  side  of  the  stream.  To  this  end  General 
Grant  concentrated  his  forces  near  the  Talla- 
hatchee  River,  in  northern  Mississippi,  where  Gen 
erals  Hovey  and  Washburne  had  been  operating 
with  troops  whom  they  had  led  from  Helena,  in 
Arkansas.  Grant  had  a  large  quantity  of  supplies 
at  Holly  Springs.  These,  through  carelessness  or 
treachery,  fell  into  the  hands  of  Van  Dorn  on  the 
2oth  of  December  (1862),  and  Grant  was  com 
pelled  to  fall  back  to  Grand  Junction  to  save  his 
army. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


319 


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MAP  OF  FREDERICKSBURG  AND  VICINITY 


VIEWS  OF  FREDERICKSBURG 


320 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHRONOLOGICAL  SUMMARY  AND  RECORD— Continued 


NOVEMBER,  1863— Continued  from  Section  9 

27— Cleveland,    Tenn.      2d   Brigade   of    2d    Cavalry    Division.      Confed.    200 

captured. 
Ringgold  and   Taylor's   Ridge.   Ga.      Portions  of   Twelfth,   Fourteenth, 

and    Fifteenth   Corps.      Union   68  killed,   351    wounded.      Confed.   50 

killed,  200  wounded,  230  missing. 
27  to  29 — Fort  Esperanza,  Tex.     Portions  of  1st  and  2d  Divisions  Thirteenth 

Corps.      Union  1  killed,  2  wounded.     Confed.  1  killed. 

DECEMBER,  1863 

1  to  4 — Riplcy  and  Moscow  Station,  Miss.,  and  Salisbury,  Tenn.  2d  Bri 
gade  Cavalry  Division  of  Sixteenth  Corps.  Union  175  killed  and 
wounded.  Confed.  15  killed,  40  wounded.  Union  Col.  Hatch,  com 
manding,  wounded. 

2 — Walker's  Ford,  W.  Va.  G5th,  116th,  and  118th  Ind.,  2Ist  Ohio  Battery, 
5th  Ind.  Cav.,  14th  111.  Cav.  Union  9  killed,  39  wounded.  Confed. 
25  killed,  50  wounded. 

7 — Creelsboro,  Ky.,  and  Celina,  Tenn.      13th  Ky.  Cav.     Confed.  15  killed. 
8  to  21 — -Averill's  Raid  in  Southwestern  Va.      Union  6  killed,  5  wounded. 
Confed.  200  prisoners. 

10  to  14 — Bean's  Station  and  Morristown,  Tenn.  Shackleford's  Cavalry. 
Union  700  killed  and  wounded.  Confed.  932  killed  and  wounded,  150 
prisoners. 

17  to  26 — Rodney  and  Port  Gibson,  Miss.  Miss.  Marine  Brigade.  Union 
'2  killed. 

19 — Barren  Fork,  Ind.  Ter.  1st  and  3d  Kan.,  Indian  Home  Guards.  Con- 
fed.  50  killed. 

24  and  25 — Bolivar  and  Summerville,  Tenn.  7th  111.  Cav.  Union  3  killed, 
8  wounded. 

28 — Charlestown,  Tenn.  Detachments  of  2d  Mo.  and  4th  Ohio  Cav.  guard 
ing  wagon  train.  Union  2  killed,  15  wounded.  Confed.  8  killed,  39 
wounded,  121  captured. 

29 — Talbot's  Station  and  Mossy  Creek,  Tenn.  1st  Brigade,  2d  Division 
Twenty-third  Corps,  1st  Tenn.  Cav.,  1st  Wis.  Cav.,  2d  and  4th  Ind. 
Cav.,  24th  Ind.  Battery. 

30 — St.  Augustine,  Fla.      10th  Conn.,  24th  Mass.      Union  4  killed. 

Greenville,  X.  C.     Detachments  of  12th  X.  Y..  1st  X.  C.  and  23d  N.  Y. 

Battery.     Union  I  killed,  G  wounded.     Confed.  6  killed. 
Waldron,  Ark.     2d  Kan.  Cav.      Union  2  killed,  G  wounded. 

JANUARY,  1864 

1  to  10 — Rectortown  and  London   Heights.  Va.      1st   Md.   Cav.,  Potomac 
Hone  Brigade.      Union  29  killed  and  wounded,  41  missing.      Confed. 
4  killed,  10  wounded. 
3 — Jonesville,  Va.      Detachment  16th  III.  Cav.,  22d  Ohio  Battery.     Union 

12  killed,  48  wounded,  300  missing.     Confed.  4  killed,  12  wounded. 
7 — Martin's  Creek,  Ark.     llth  Mo.  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  1  wounded. 

12 — Mayfield,  Ky.     58th  III.      Union  1  killed,  1  wounded.     Confed.  2  killed. 

13— Mossy  Creek,  Tenn.      McCook's  Cav.     Confed.  14  killed. 

14 — Bealton,  Va.  One  Co.  9th  Mass.  Union  2  wounded.  Confed.  3  killed, 
12  wounded. 

16  and  17 — Dandridge,  Tenn.  Fourth  Corps  and  Cav.  Division  of  Army  of 
the  Ohio.  Union  150  wounded. 

20 — Tracy  City,  Tenn.     Detachment  20th  Conn.      Union  2  killed. 

23— Rolling  Prairie,  Ark.      llth  Mo.  Cav.      Union  11  killed. 

24 — Baker  Springs.  Ark.      2d  and  6th  Kan.  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  2  wounded, 

Confed.  6  killed,  2  wounded. 

Tazewell,  Tenn.     34th  Ky.,  116th  and     18th  Ind.,  llth  Tenn.   Cav., 
llth  Mich.  Battery.     Confed.  31  killed. 

27 — Fair  Gardens  or  Kelly's  Ford,  Tenn.  Sturgis's  Cavalry.  Union  100 
killed  and  wounded.  Confed.  65  killed,  100  captured. 

28 — Tunnel  Hill,  Ga.  Part  of  Fourteenth  Corps.  Union  2  wounded. 
Confed.  32  wounded. 

29— Medley,  W.  Va.  1st  and  14th  W.  Va.,  23d  111.,  2d  Md.,  Potomac  Home 
Brigade,  4th  W.  Va.  Cav.,  Ringgold  (Pa.)  Cav.  Union  10  killed,  70 
wounded.  Confed.  100  wounded. 

FEBRUARY,  1864 

1 — Smithfield,  Va.  Detachments  99th  X.  Y.,  21st  Conn.,  20th  N.  Y.  Cav., 
3d  Pa.  Artil.,  and  marines  from  U.  S.  Gunboats  Minnesota  and  Smith 
Briggs.  Union  90  missing. 

1  to  3 — Bachelor  Creek,  Newport  Barracks,  and  Xew  Berne,  N.  C.  132d 
X.  Y.,  9th  Vt.,  17th  Mass..  2d  X.  C.,  12th  X.  Y.  Cav.,  3d  X.  Y.  Artil. 
Union  16  killed,  50  wounded,  280  missing.  Confed.  5  killed,  30 
wounded. 

1  to  March  8— Expedition  up  the  Yazoo  River,  Miss,     llth  111.,  47th  U.  S. 
Colored,  3d  U.  S.   Colored  Cav.,  and  a  portion  of  Porter's  Fleet  of 
Gunboats.      Union  35  killed,    121   wounded.     Confed.   35  killed,   90 
,  wounded. 

3  to  March  5 — Expedition  from  Vicksburg  to  Meridian.  Miss.,  including 
Champion  Hills,  Raymond,  Clinton.  Jackson,  Decatur,  Chunky  Sta 
tion,  occupation  of  Meridian,  Lauderdale  Springs,  and  Marion,  Miss. 
Two  Divisions  of  the  Sixteenth  and  three  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps, 
with  the  5th  111.,  4th  Iowa,  10th  Mo.  and  Foster's  (Ohio)  Cav.  Union 
56  killed,  138  wounded,  105  missing.  Confed.  503  killed  and  wounded, 
212  captured. 

6 — Qualltown.   X.   C.     Detachment  of  14th  III.  Cav.     Union  3  killed,  6 

wounded.     Confed.  50  captured,  including  Maj.-Gen.  Vance. 
Cape  Girardeau,  Mo.     2d  Mo.  Militia  Cav.     Confed.  7  killed. 

6 — Bolivar,    Tenn.     Detachment    of    7th    Ind.    Cav.      Union    1    killed,    3 

wounded.      Confed.  30  wounded. 

Morton's  Ford,  Va.     Portion  of  Second  Corps.      Union  10  killed,  201 
wounded.      Confed.  100  missing. 

7 — Barnett's  Ford,  Va.     Brig.-Gen.  Merritt's  Cav.      Union  20  killed  and 

wounded. 

Vidalia,  La.     30th  Mo.,  64th  U.  S.  Colored.  6th  U.  S.  Artil.,  Colored. 
Confed.  6  killed,  10  wounded. 


9 — Morgan's  Mills,  Ark.      Detachments  of  4th  Ark.,  llth  Mo.  Cav.,  1st 

Xeb.    Cav.     Union    I    killed,    4    wounded.     Confed.    65    killed    and 

wounded. 
9  to  14 — Barber's  Place,  St.  Mary's  River,  Lake  City  and  Gainesville,  Fla. 

40th  Mass.  Mounted  Inft.  and   Independent   (Mass.)   Cav.      Union  4 

killed,  16  wounded.     Confed.  4  killed,  48  wounded. 
10  to  25 — Smith's  Raid  from  Germantown,  Tenn.,  into  Mississippi.      Smith's 

and    Griersori's    Cav.    Divisions.      Union    43    killed,    207    wounded. 

Confed.  50  wounded,  300  captured. 

12— Rock  House,  W.  Va.      14th  Ky.     Confed.  12  killed,  4  wounded. 
14— Ross  Landing,  Ark.      51st  U.  S.  Colored.      Union  13  killed,  7  wounded. 

Brentsville,  Va.      13th  Pa.  Cav.      Union  4  killed,  1  wounded. 
14  and  15— Waterproof,  La.     49th  U.  S.  Colored  and  U.  S.  Gunboat  Forest 

Rose.     Union  8  killed,  14  wounded.     Confed.  15  killed. 
19 — Grosse  Tetc  Bayou,  La.     4th  "Wis.  Cav.      Union  2  wounded.     Confed. 

4  killed,  6  wounded. 

Xear   Batesville,   Ark.     4th  Ark.,   llth   Mo.   Cav.      Union  3  killed,  4 

wounded.     Confed.  6  killed,  10  wounded. 
20 — Holston  River,  Tenn.     4th  Tenn.      Union  2  killed,  3  wounded.     Confed. 

5  killed,  10  wounded. 

Olustee  or  Silver  Lake,  Fla.     47th,  48th  and  115th  X.  Y.,  7th  Conn., 

7th  X.  H.,  40th  Mass.,  8th  and  54th  U.  S.  Colored,  1st  X.  C.  Colored, 

1st   Mass.   Cav.,   1st  and  3d  U.  S.  Artil.,  3d  R.  I.  Artil.      Union   193 

killed,  1,175  wounded.  460  missing.     Confed.  100  killed,  400  wounded. 

22 — Mulberry  Gap,  Tenn.      9th  Tenn.  Cav.      Union  13  killed  and  wounded, 

256  captured. 
Drainesville,   Va.      Detachment  of  2d   Mass.   Cav.      Union   10  killed,  7 

wounded,  57  captured.     Confed.  2  killed,  4  wounded. 
Johnson's  Mills,  Tenn.     Detachment  of  24  men  5th  Tenn.  Cav.,  cap 
tured  and  massacred  by  Ferguson's  guerrillas. 

23  and  March  18— Calf  Killer  Creek,  Tenn.  5th  Tenn.  Cav.  Union  8 
killed,  3  wounded.  Confed.  33  killed. 

25  to  27 — Buzzard  Roost,  Tunnel  Hill  and  Rocky  Face,  Ga.     Fourth  and 

Fourteenth  Corps  and  Cavalry  Corps  Army  of  the  Cumberland. 
Union  17  killed,  '272  wounded.  Confed.  20  killed,  120  wounded. 

27  and  28 — -Xear  Canton,  Miss.     Foraging  Detachments  of  3d  and  32d  Iowa. 

Union  2  killed,  5  wounded.     Confed.  3  killed,  15  wounded. 

28  to  March  4— Kilpatrick's  Raid.  Stevensburg  to  Richmond,  Va.     Kilpat- 

rick's  Cavalry.  Union  330  killed,  wounded  and  captured.  Confed. 
308  killed,  wounded  and  captured. 

MARCH,  1864 

1 — Stanardsville  and   Burton's  Ford,  Rapidan,  Va.  *   Custer's  Cav.      Union 

10  wounded.      Confed.   30  captured. 
2 — Harrisonburg,    La.     Porter's    Miss.    Squadron.      Union    2    killed,     14 

wounded. 
5 — Panther  Springs,  Tenn.     One  Co.  3d  Tenn.      Union  2  killed,  8  wounded. 

22  captured.     Confed.  30  wounded. 
7 — Decatur,    Ala.     Army   of   the    Tennessee,    commanded   by    Brig.-Gen. 

Dodge. 
9— Suffolk,    Va.     2d    U.    S.    Colored    Cav.      Union   8   killed,    1    wounded. 

Confed.  25  wounded. 

14 — Fort  De  Russy,  La.  Detachments  of  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Corps 
and  Porter's  Miss.  Squadron.  Union  7  killed,  41  wounded.  Confed, 
5  killed,  4  wounded,  260  prisoners. 

15 — Clarendon,  Ark.     8th  Mo.  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  3  wounded. 
17 — Manchester,  Tenn.     5th  Tenn.  Cav.     Confed.  21  killed. 
21 — Henderson  Hills,  La.      Detachments  of  Sixteenth  Corps  and  Cavalry 
Division    Xineteenth   Corps.      Union    1   wounded.     Confed.   8  killed, 
250  captured. 

24 — Union  City,  Ky.     7th  Tenn.  Cav.     450  men  captured  by  Forrest. 
25 — Fort  Anderson,   Paducah,   Ky.      122d   111.,    I Oth   Ky.   Cav.,  8th  U.  S. 
Colored  Artil.      Union  14  killed,  46  wounded.      Confed.   10  killed,  40 
wounded.     Confed.  Brig.-Gen.  Thompson  killed. 

26  to  30 — Longview  and  Mt.  Elba,  Ark.     28th  Wis.,  5th  Kan.  Cav.,  7th  Mo. 

Cav.  Union  4  killed,  18  wounded.  Confed.  12  killed,  35  wounded, 
300  captured. 

28 — Charleston,  111.  Attack  on  5th  111.  by  mob  of  Copperheads  while  return 
ing  to  the  front  on  veteran  furlough.  Union  2  killed,  8  wounded. 
Confed.  3  killed,  4  wounded,  12  prisoners. 

29 — Bolivar,  Tenn.     Gth  Tenn.  Cav.      Union  8  killed,  35  wounded. 

31 — Xear  Snydersville,  Miss.  3d  U.  S.  Colored  Cav.  Union  16  killed,  3 
wounded.  Confed.  3  killed,  7  wounded. 

APRIL,  1864 

1 — Augusta,  Ark.     3d  Minn.,  8th  Mo.  Cav.      Union  8  killed,  16  wounded. 

Confed.  15  killed,  45  wounded. 
2— Spoonville,  Ark.     29th  Iowa,  9th  Wis.,  50th  Ind.,  with  1st  Mo.  Cav. 

Union  10  killed,  35  wounded.      Confed.  100  killed  and  wounded. 
Crump's  Hill  ar  Piney  Woods,  La.      14th  X.  Y.  Cav.,  2d  La.,   2d  III., 

and   16th   Mo.   Cav.,  5th  U.  S.   Colored  Artil.      Union  20  wounded. 

Confed.  10  killed,  25  wounded. 
3— Okalona.  Ark.     27th  Wis.,  40th  Iowa.  77th  Ohio,  43d  111.,  1st  Mo.  Cav., 

13th  111.  Cav.      Union  16  killed,  74  wounded.     Confed.  75  killed  and 

wounded. 
4 — Campti.  La.     35th  Iowa.  5th  Minn.,  2d  and  18th  X.  Y.  Cav.,  3d  R.  I. 

Cav.      Union  10  killed,  18  wounded.     Confed.  3  killed,  12  wounded. 
4  to  6— Elkins'  Ford,  Ark.     43d  Ind.,  29th  and  36th  Iowa,  1st  Iowa  Cav., 

Battery  E  2d  Mo.  Light  Artil.      Union  5  killed,  33  wounded.      Confed. 

18  killed,  30  wounded. 

5 — Roseville,  Ark.     Seventy-five  men  of  2d  and  Gth  Kan   Cav.,  in  engage 
ment    with    guerrillas.      Union    19    killed,    11    woun    ?d.      Confed.    15 

killed,  25  wounded,  11  captured. 
Stone's  Farm.     Twenty-six  men  of  6th  Kan.  Cav.,  ;r  engagement  with 

guerrillas.  11,  including  Asst.  Surg.  Fairchild,  'aptured  and  massa 
cred. 

(Continued  in  Section  II) 


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CHANCELLOKSVILLE 


CHAPTER   XIX.— Continued. 

TAKING  advantage  of  this  movement,  a  large  force  of  Confederates  gathered  at  Vicksburg  under 
General  J.  C.  Pemberton,  for  the  protection  of  that  post.     On  the  day  when  Grant's  supplies  were 
seized  at  Holly  Springs,  about  twenty  thousand  National  troops,  led  by  General  W.  T.  Sherman,  left 
Memphis  in  transports,  with  siege  guns,  to  beleaguer  Vicksburg.     At  Friar's  Point  they  were  joined  by 

_     troops  from  Helena,  and  were  met  by  Commodore  Porter, 

whose  fleet  of  gunboats  were  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo 
River,  just  above  Vicksburg.  The  two  commanders  ar 
ranged  a  plan  for  attacking  the  city  in  the  rear,  and  pro 
ceeded  to  execute  it.  The  troops  and  fleet  went  up  the 
Yazoo  River  to  capture  some  batteries  which  disputed  the 
way  to  that  rear ;  but  Sherman  was  repulsed  after  a  sharp 
battle  at  Chickasaw  Bayou  (December  28),  and  the  project 
was  abandoned  for  a  time. 

General  John  A.  McClernand,  the  senior  of  Sherman 
in  rank,  arrived  at  headquarters,  near  Vicksburg,  early  in 
January,  1863,  and  took  the  chief  command.  He  and 
Porter  went  up  the  Arkansas  River  with  their  forces,  and 
on  the  nth  captured  the  important  Fort  Hindman  at 
Arkansas  Post.  In  the  meantime  General  Grantjhad  ar 
ranged  his  army  into  four  corps,  and  with  it  descended  the 
river  from  Memphis  to  prosecute  the  siege  of  Vicksburg  with  vigor.  He  was  soon  convinced  that  it  could 
not  be  taken  by  direct  assault.  He  tried  to  perfect  the  canal  begun  by  Farragut,  butjfailed;  and  then 
he  sent  a  considerable  land  and  naval  force  up  the  Yazoo  to  capture  batteries  at  Haines's  Bluff,  and  so 
gain  a  footing  in  the  rear  of  Vicksburg.  These  were  repulsed  at  Fort  Pemberton,  near  Greenwood,  late 
in  March .  Other  channels  among  the  brimming  bayous  and  small  rivers  were  diligently  sought  by  the 
indomitable  Porter,  to  gain  the  rear  of  the  foredoomed  city,  but  in  vain,  and  again  the  enterprise  was 
abandoned.  The  details  of  these  efforts  of  the  army  and  navy,  during  the  spring  of  186,5,  form  one  of 
the  most  wonderful  chapters  in  the  history  of  the  war.  The  waters  were  then  redundant,  and  the  voyages 
were  sometimes  wild  and  perilous,  the  gunboats  sweeping  on  strong  currents  through  overflowed  swamps 
under  lofty  overarching  trees  draped  with  the  trailing  Spanish  moss,  and  having  their  smoke-stacks 
leveled  at  times,  and  their  wheels  fearfully  bruised. 

While  these  operations  against  Vicksburg  were  in  progress,  there  had  been  lively  times  on  the  bosom 
of  the  Mississippi.  In  February  (1863),  iron-clad  vessels  of  Porter's  fleet 
ran  by  the  batteries  at  Vicksburg,  and  made  considerable  havoc  among 
Confederate  transports  below  that  were  supplying  the  troops  there 
and  at  Port  Hudson  with  stores.  These  venturesome  National  vessels 
were  lost,  and  their  crews  were  made  prisoners.  Later,  when  Grant  had 
sent  a  strong  land  force  down  the  west  side  of  the  river,  Porter  successfully 
ran  by  the  batteries  at  Vicksburg  with  nearly  his  whole  fleet  and  the 
transports,  on  the  night  of  the  i6th  of  April.  Then  Grant  prepared  for 
vigorous  operations  on  the  flank  and  rear  of  Vicksburg,  on  the  line  of  the 
Big  Black  River.  Porter  also  attacked  and  ran  by  the  Confederate  bat 
teries  at  Grand  Gulf,  on  the  27th  of  April,  when  Grant's  army  crossed 
the  Mississippi  a  little  below,  pressed  forward,  and  at  Port  Gibson  gained 
a  decisive  victory  in  a  battle  fought  there  on  the  first  of  May. 

In  the  meantime,  Sherman,  who  had  made  another  unsuccessful  effort 
to  capture  the  batteries  at  Haines's  Bluff,  by  order  of  General  Grant, 
marched  down  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  crossed  it,  and  joined  the 
main  army  on  the  8th  of  May.  Then  the  whole  force  pushed  rapidly 
toward  Jackson,  the  capital  of  Mississippi,  where  General  Joseph  E. 
Johnston  was  in  command  of  a  Confederate  army.  After  a  severe  battle 


GENERAL  JAMKS  S.  NEGLEY 


at  Raymond,  on  the  i2th  of  May,  in  which  the  Confederates  were  defeated,  and  another  near  Jackson, 
on  the  1 4th,  when  the  insurgents  were  driven  northward,  the  Nationals  seized  the  State  capital,  and 

Copyright,  1895,  by  CHARLES  F.  JOHNSON.     Copyright,  1905,  by  LOSSISG  HISTORY  COMPANY.     Copyright,  1912,  by  THE  WAR  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION,  INC. 


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destroyed  a  large  quantity  of  public  property  there.  Then  the  victorious  army  turned  toward  Vicksburg, 
and  after  defeating  the  Confederates  under  Pemberton  at  Champion  Hills  on  the  i6th  of  May,  and  at  the 
passage  of  the  Black  River  on  the  i  ;th,  the  National  army  swept  on  and  closely  invested  Vicksburg,  in 
the  rear,  on  the  igth,  receiving  their  supplies  from  a  base  on  the  Yazoo,  established  by  Porter.  For  a 

fortnight  the  army  had  drawn  its  subsistence  from  the  country  through 
which  it  had  passed.  It  now  rested  for  a  brief  space  after  a  wonderful 
week's  work.  Then,  after  two  unsuccessful  and  disastrous  assaults  on 
Vicksburg,  Grant  began  a  regular  siege  of  the  works  there,  with  the  co 
operation  of  Porter's  fleet. 

CHAPTER   XX. 

Investment  and  Siege  of  Vicksburg — Galveston — Banks  in  Louisiana— Siege  and  Surrender  of 
Port  Hudson — The  Two  Armies  in  Virginia — Peck  and  Longstreet  at  Suffolk — Moseby  at 
Fairfax  Court-House — Cavalry  Battle — Cavalry  Raids — Movements  on  Chancellorsville 
— Battle  There — Death  of  "Stonewall  Jackson" — Sedgwick's  Escape — Retreat  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac — Siege  of  Suffolk — The  Confederate  Army  and  Service — Power  of 
the  Confederates  Abroad — Uavis  Recognized  by  the  Pope — Napoleon,  Mexico,  and  the 
Confederacy — Napoleon's  Real  Designs — Confederates  Invade  Maryland  and  Pennsyl 
vania — Panic — Operations  in  Pennsylvania — Battle  at  Gettysburg — Seward's  Circular. 


A 


GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT 


FTER  Grant's  last  assault  on  Vicksburg,  his  effective  men  did  not 
exceed  twenty  thousand  in  number.  He  determined  to  make  the 
capture  of  Vicksburg  an  event  of  the  near  future,  and  called  in 
reinforcements.  They  came  in  such  numbers,  that  by  the  middle  of  June 
the  investment  of  Vicksburg  was  made  absolute.  Sherman's  corps  was  on  the  extreme  right,  McPherson's 
next  and  extending  to  the  railway,  and  Ord's  (late  McClernand's)  on  the  left,  the  investment  in  that 
direction  being  made  complete  by  the  divisions  of  Herron  and  Lanman,  the  latter  lying  across  Stout's 
Bayou,  and  touching  the  bluffs  on  the  river.  Parke's  corps,  and  the  divisions  of  Smith 'and  Kimball, 
were  sent  to  Haines's  Bluff,  where  fortifications  commanding  the  land  side  had  been  erected  to  confront 
any  attempt  that  Johnston  might  make  in  that  direction.  Meanwhile  Vice-Admiral  Porter  had  made 
complete  and  ample  arrangements  for  the  most  efficient  co-operation  on  the  river,  and  his  skill  and  zeal 
were  felt  throughout  the  siege,  which  continued  until  the  first  week  in  July. 

Every  day,  shot  and  shell  were  hurled  upon  the  city  and  the  insurgent  camps,  from  land  and  water. 
The  inhabitants  were  compelled  to  seek  shelter  in  caves  dug  out  of  the  clay  hills  on  which  the  city  stands. 
In  these,  whole  families,  free  and  bond,  lived  for  many  wreeks,  while  their  houses  without  were  perforated 
by  the  iron  hail.  Therein  children  were  born,  and  persons  died,  and  soldiers  sought  shelter  from  the 
tempest  of  wrar.  Very  soon  famine  afflicted  the  citizens.  Fourteen  ounces  of  food  became  a  regular 
allowance  for  each  person  for  forty-eight  hours.  The  flesh  of  mules  made  savory  dishes  toward  the  end 
of  the  siege.  Finally  the  besiegers  undermined  one  of  the  principal  forts  of  the  enemy,  in  the  line  of  the 
defences  on  the  land  side,  and  it  was  blowyn  up  with  fearful  effect.  Other  mines  were  made  ready  for 
the  infernal  work,  when  Pemberton,  despairing  of  expected  aid  from  Johnston,  made  a  proposition  to 
Grant  to  surrender  the  post  and  his  army.  The  generals  met  under  the  shadow  of  a  live-oak  tree  in  the 
rear  of  the  town  on  the  3d  of  July  to  arrange  the  terms  of  surrender,  and  on  the  4th  the  stronghold  of 
Vicksburg,  with  twenty-seven  thousand  men  and  a  vast  amount  of  ordnance,  and  other  public  property, 
were  surrendered  to  the  leader  of  the  National  forces. 

From  the  time  of  the  battle  at  Port  Gibson  to  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  General  Grant  had  captured 
thirty  thousand  prisoners  (among  them  fifteen  general  officers),  with  arms  and  ammunition  for  an  army 
of  sixty  thousand  men;  also  steamboats,  locomotives,  railroads,  a  vast  amount  of  cotton,  etc.  He  had 
lost,  during  that  time,  nine  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-three  men,  of  whom  one  thousand  two 
hundred  and  thirty-three  had  been  killed.  By  the  experience  of  those  few  weeks,  he  had  ascertained 
the  real  weakness  of  the  Confederacy  in  that  region. 

On  the  night  of  the  4th  of  July  (1863),  the  powerful  fleet  of  Vice-Admiral  Porter  was  lying  quietly 
at  the  levee  at  Vicksburg,  and  in  commemoration  of  that  National  holiday  our  troops  regaled  the  citizens 
with  a  fine  display  of  fireworks  more  harmless  than  those  which,  for  more  than  forty  nights,  had  coursed 
the  heavens  above  them  like  malignant  meteors. 

Galveston  had  been  recaptured  by  the  Confederates  on  the  first  of  January,  1863;  but  that  victory 
was  rendered  almost  fruitless  by  a  close  blockade  of  the  port  by  National  vessels.  From  that  time 
General  Banks  had  been  co-operating  with  General  Grant,  and  making  efforts  to  "repossess"  Louisiana. 


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e 

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o 

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o 


W    I 

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A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


SCENE  AT  VICKSBI;RG 


An  expedition  under  General  Weitzel  and  Commodore  McKean  Buchanan  took  possession  of  the  remark 
able  Teche  country  in  that  State,  when  Banks  concentrated  his  troops,  about  twelve  thousand  in  number, 
at  Baton  Rouge  (which  was  then  held  by  General  Grover),  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  Commodore 
Farragut  in  an  attempt  to  pass  the  formidable  batteries  at  Port  Hudson,  twenty-five  miles  up  the 
Mississippi.  That  attempt  was  made  on  the  night  of  the  i,3th  of  March,  when  a  terrible  contest  occurred, 

in  the  darkness,  between  the  vessels  and  the  land  bat 
teries.  Only  Farragut 's  flag-ship  (the  Hartford)  and 
another  succeeded  in  passing  by. 

Banks  now  sent  a  large  portion  of  his  available 
troops  into  the  interior  of  Louisiana,  where  General 
Richard  Taylor  was  in  command  of  a  Confederate  force. 
The  Nationals  were  concentrated  at  Brashear  City,  on 
the  Atchafalaya,  and  from  that  point  they  marched  tri 
umphantly  to  the  Red  River,  accompanied  by  Banks  in 
person.  From  Alexandria,  early  in  May,  that  general 
wrote  to  his  Government  that  the  Confederate  power  in 
northern  and  central  Louisiana  was  broken;  and  with 
this  impression  he  moved  eastward  with  his  troops, 
crossed  the  Mississippi  River,  and  late  in  May  (1863) 
invested  Port  Hudson,  then  in  command  of  the  Confed 
erate  general,  Frank  Gardner.  For  forty  days  he  be 
sieged  that  post,  during  which  time  many  gallant  deeds 
were  performed  on  each  side.  Banks  was  ably  assisted 

by  the  squadron  of  Farragut — the  Hartford,  Albatross,  Monongahela,  Richmond,  Essex  and  Tennessee, 
and  some  mortar-boats.  Finally,  at  the  close  of  June,  the  ammunition  of  the  closely  invested  garrison 
was  almost  exhausted.  When  news  of  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  reached  Gardner,  he  perceived  that  further 
attempts  at  resistance  would  be  futile;  and  on  the  gth  of  July  he  surrendered  the  post  to  Banks,  with 
much  spoil.  The  National  loss  during  the  siege  was  about  three  thousand  men,  and  that  of  the  Confed 
erates,  exclusive  of  prisoners,  was  about  eight  hundred.  The  loss  of  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson  was  a 
severe  calamity  for  the  Confederates.  It  gave  the  final  blow  in  the  removal  of  the  obstructions  to  the 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River  by  Confederate  batteries,  and  thenceforth  it  was  free.  Powerful 
portions  of  the  Confederacy  were  "repossessed"  by  the  National  Government,  and  wise  men  among  the 
enemies  of  the  Republic  clearly  perceived  that  their  cause  was  hopeless. 

At  the  moment  when  Vicksburg  fell,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  gained  an  equally  important  victory 
on  the  soil  of  Pennsylvania.  We  left  that  army  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Rappahannock  River,  near 
Fredericksburg,  in  charge  of  General  Joseph  Hooker.  From  January  to  April  (1863),  he  was  engaged 
in  preparing  for  a  vigorous  summer  campaign.  His  forces  remained  in  comparative  quiet  for  about 
three  months,  during  which  time  they  were  reorganized  and  well-disciplined;  and  at  the  close  of  April, 
his  army  numbered  one  hundred  thousand  effective  men.  General  Lee's  army,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river,  had  been  divided ;  a  large  force  under  General  Longstreet  being  required  to  watch  the  movements 
of  the  Nationals  under  General  Peck,  in  the  vicinity  of  Norfolk.  Lee  had  in  hand  about  sixty  thousand 
well-drilled  troops,  lying  behind  strong  intrenchments  extending  twenty-five  miles  along  the  line  of  the 
Rappahannock.  For  the  space  of  three  months  some  cavalry  movements  only,  disturbed  the  two  armies. 
General  W.  H.  F.  Lee,  with  a  mounted  force,  attacked  National  troops  at  Gloucester,  opposite  Yorktown, 
early  in  February;  and  at  midnight  of  the  8th  of  March,  Colonel  Moseby,  at  the  head  of  a  band  of 
guerrillas,  dashed  into  the  village  of  Fairfax  Court-House  and  carried  off  the  commander  of  the  Union 
forces  there.  A  little  later  National  cavalry  under  General  Averill  and  Confederate  horsemen  led  by 
General  Fitzhugh  Lee,  had  a  severe  battle  near  Kelly's  Ford,  on  the  Rappahannock,  in  which  the  former 
were  repulsed.  That  was  the  first  purely  cavalry  contest  of  the  war. 

Hooker  became  impatient.  The  time  of  the  enlistment  of  many  of  his  troops  would  soon  expire, 
and  he  determined  to  put  his  army  in  motion  toward  Richmond  early  in  April,  notwithstanding  his  ranks 
were  not  full.  Cavalry,  under  General  Stoneman,  were  sent  to  destroy  railways  in  Lee's  rear,  but  were 
foiled  by  the  high  water  in  the  streams.  After  a  pause,  Hooker  determined  to  attempt  to  turn  Lee's 
flank,  and  for  that  purpose  he  sent  ten  thousand  mounted  men  to  raid  in  his  rear.  Then  he  threw 
thirty-six  thousand  troops  of  his  own  right  wing  across  the  Rappahannock,  with  orders  to  halt  and 
intrench  at  Chancellorsville  between  the  Confederate  army  and  Richmond.  This  movement  was  so 
masked  by  a  demonstration  on  Lee's  front,  by  Hooker's  left  wing  under  General  Sedgwick,  that  the 


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right  was  well  advanced  before  Lee  was  aware  of  his  peril.  These  troops  reached  Chancellorsville  in  a 
region  known  as  The  Wilderness,  on  the  evening  of  the  3oth  of  April,  when  Hooker  expected  to  see  Lee, 
conscious  of  danger,  fly  toward  Richmond.  He  did  no  such  thing,  but  proceeded  to  strike  the  National 
army  a  heavy  blow,  for  the  twofold  purpose  of  seizing  the  communications  between  the  two  parts  of 
that  army  and  compelling  its  commander  to  fight  at  a 
disadvantage,  with  only  a  portion  of  his  troops  in  hand. 
For  this  purpose,  "Stonewall  Jackson"  was  sent  with 
a  heavy  force,  early  in  the  morning  of  the  first  of  May, 
to  attack  the  Nationals,  when  Hooker  sent  out  his 
troops  to  meet  them.  The  Confederates  moved  upon 
Chancellorsville  by  two 
roads.  A  sharp  en 
gagement  ensued,when 
the  Nationals  were 
pushed  back  to  a  de 
fensive  position  behind 
their  intrenchments ; 
but  the  efforts  of  Lee 

to  seize  these  works  were  foiled. 
Both  armies  were  now  in  a 
perilous  position.  Hooker  re 
solved  to  rest  on  the  defensive ; 
but  Lee  boldly  detached  the 

whole  of  Jackson's  command,  on  the  morning  of  the  2d 
of  May,  and  sent  it  under  cover  of  the  forest-curtain  of 
The  Wilderness  to  make  a  secret  flank  movement  and 
gain  the  rear  of  the  Nationals.  It  was  observed  by  the 
latter.  Suddenly,  Jackson  burst  from  the  woods  with 
twenty-five  thousand  men,  and  falling  upon  Hooker's  right,  crumbled  it,  and  sent  the  astounded  column 
in  confusion  upon  the  remainder  of  the  line.  A  desperate  battle,  in  which  nearly  all  the  troops  on  both 
sides  participated,  was  the  consequence.  It  lasted  until  late  in  the  evening,  when  Jackson  fell,  mortally 
wounded  by  a  bullet  sent  by  mistake,  in  the  gloom,  by  one  of  his  owrn  men.  Jackson  had  been  engaged 
in  a  personal  reconnaissance  with  his  staff  and  an  escort;  and  when  returning,  in  the  darkness,  to  his 
lines,  he  and  his  companions  were  mistaken  by  their  friends  for  Union  cavalry. 

Hooker  now  made  disposition  for  a  renewal  of  the  conflict  on  the  morning  of  the  3d.  He  had  called 
Reynolds's  corps  of  more  than  twenty  thousand  men  from  Sedgwick,  and  these  arrived  late  on  Saturday 
evening  (the  2d),  swelling  his  army  to  sixty  thousand.  Sedgwick,  by  Hooker's  order,  had  crossed  the 
Rappahannock,  seized  Fredericksburg  and  the  Heights,  and  was  pushing  on  toward  Chancellorsville, 
when  he  was  checked  by  troops  sent  by  Lee,  and  compelled  to  retreat  across  the  river  at  Banks's  Ford, 
to  save  his  army.  This  was  accomplished  on  the  night  of  the  4th  and  5th  of  May.  In  the  meantime 
there  had  been  hard  fighting  at  Chancellorsville.  At  dawn  on  Sunday  morning,  the  3d  of  May,  the 
dashing  General  Stuart,  leading  the  column  of  the  slain  commander  so  much  loved,  shouted,  when  he 
saw  the  Nationals,  "Charge,  and  remember  Jackson!"  and  then  fell  heavily  upon  the  troops  commanded 
by  General  Sickles.  The  conflict  was  desperate  and  soon  became  general;  and  the  National  army,  after 
a  long  struggle,  was  finally  pushed  from  the  field  to  a  strong  position  on  the  roads  back  of  Chancellorsville. 
Lee's  army  was  now  united;  that  of  Hooker  was  yet  divided;  and  hearing  of  Sedgwick's  critical 
situation,  the  latter  determined  to  retreat  to  the  north  side  of  the  Rappahannock.  The  Army  of  the 
Potomac  passed  the  river  in  safety  on  the  night  of  the  4th,  when  Lee,  unable  to  follow,  resumed  his  former 
position  on  the  Heights  of  Fredericksburg.  Both  armies  had  lost  heavily — the  Nationals  over  seventeen 
thousand  men  including  prisoners,  and  the  Confederates  about  fifteen  thousand.  Meanwhile  Stoneman's 
cavalry  had  been  raiding  on  Lee's  communications  with  Richmond,  and  a  part  of  them,  under  Colonel 
Judson  Kilpatrick,  had  swept  down  within  two  miles  of  that  city.  They  destroyed  much  property,  but 
failed  to  break  up  the  railway  communication  between  Lee  and  the  Confederate  capital.  So  far  the 
raiding  was  a  failure. 

Longstreet,  as  we  have  observed,  had  been  sent  to  confront  General  Peck  in  southeastern  Virginia. 
The  latter  was  strongly  fortified  near  Suffolk,  where  he  was  besieged  by  Longstreet  early  in  April,  who 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


3,31 


GENERAL  E.  O.  C.  ORD,  WIFE  AND  DAUGHTER 


GENERALS  BENJ.  HARRISON,  W.  T.  WARD,  DON  DUSTIN  AND  COGSWALL 


332 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


JOHN  C.  BRECKENRIDISE,  C.  S.  A. 


But  the  British  government  wisely  hesitated ;  and  notwithstanding  the  unpatriotic  Peace-Faction  in  the 
city  of  New  York  had,  six  months  before  (November,  1862),  waited  upon  Lord  Lyons,  the  British  minister 
at  Washington,  with  an  evident  desire  to  have  his  government  interfere  in  our  affairs,  and  thus  secure 

the  independence  of  the  Confederates,  and  the  emissaries  of  the  con 
spirators  were  specially  active  in  Europe,  the  British  ministry,  restrained 
by  the  good  Queen,  steadily  refused  to  take  decided  action  in  the  matter. 
Only  the  Roman  Pontiff,  then  a  temporal  prince,  of  all  the  rulers  of  the 
earth  officially  recognized  Jefferson  Davis  as  the  head  of  a  real  govern 
ment. 

At  the  same  time,  a  scheme  of  the  emperor  of  the  French  for  the 
destruction  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  and  the  establishment  there  of  a 
monarchy  ruled  by  a  man  of  his  own  selection,  and  pledged  to  act  in  the 
interests  of  despotism,  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  the  promotion  of 
the  domination  of  the  Latin  race,  was  in  successful  operation,  by  means 
of  twenty  thousand  French  soldiers  and  five  thousand  allied  Mexicans. 
In  this  movement,  it  is  alleged,  the  leaders  of  the  great  insurrection  were 
the  secret  allies  of  the  emperor,  it  being  understood  that  as  soon  as  he 
should  obtain  a  firm  footing  in  Mexico  he  should,  for  valuable  commercial 
considerations  agreed  upon,  acknowledge  the  independence  of  the  Con 
federate  States,  and  uphold  it  by  force  of  arms  if  necessary ;  it  also  being 
understood  that  the  government  which  Davis  and  his  associates  were  to 
establish  at  the  close  of  hostilities  should,  in  no  wise,  offend  Napoleon's 
imperialistic  ideas.  The  slave-holding  class  were  to  be  a  privileged  one, 

and  be  the  rulers,  and  the  great  mass  of  the  people  were  to  be  subordinated  to  the  interests  of  that  class. 
Therefore,  the  triumphal  march  of  the  French  invaders  of  Mexico,  in  the  spring  of  1863,  was  hailed  with 
delight  by  the  government  at  Richmond,  wrhile  the  great  mass  of  the  people  were  ignorant  of  the  conspiracy 
on  foot  to  deprive  them  of  their  sacred  rights. 

At  the  same  time  the  perfidious  emperor  was  deceiving  the  Confederate  leaders  concerning  his  real 
and  deeper  designs,  which  were  both  political  and  ecclesiastical.  His  political  design  evidently  was  to 
arrest  the  march  of  empire  southward  on  the  part  of  the  United  States.  His  religious  design  was  to 
assist  the  Church  party  in  Mexico,  which  had  been  defeated  in  1857,  in  a  recovery  of  its  power,  that  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  might  have  undisputed  sway  in  Central  America.  In  a  letter  to  the  Spanish 
General  Prim,  in  July,  1862,  the  Emperor,  after  saying  that  the  United  States  fed  the  factories  of  Europe 
with  cotton,  and  asserting  that  it  was  not  the  interest  of  European  governments  to  have  our  country 
hold  dominion  over  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  Antilles,  and  the  adjacent  continent,  he  declared  that  if, 
with  the  assistance  of  France,  Mexico  should  have  a  "stable  government" — that  is,  a  monarchy — "we 
shall  have  restored  to  the  Latin  race  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  ocean,  its  strength  and  prestige;  we  shall 
have  guaranteed  then  security  to  our  colonies  in  the  Antilles,  and  to  those  of  Spain;  we  shall  have 
established  our  beneficent  influence  in  the  centre  of  America ;  and  in  this 
influence,  by  creating  immense  openings  to  our  commerce,  will  procure  to 
us  the  matter  indispensable  to  our  industry" — that  is,  cotton.  This  con 
templated  blow  against  our  great  cotton  interest  was  a  prime  element  in 
Napoleon's  scheme,  for  the  consummation  of  which  he  coquetted  with 
the  Confederate  leaders,  and  deceived  them. 

The  Confederate  government,  greatly  elated  by  the  events  at 
Chancellorsville,  ordered  Lee  to  invade  Maryland  again.  His  force  was 
now  almost  equal  in  numbers  to  that  of  his  antagonist,  and  in  better 
spirits  than  were  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  By  a  sudden  flank  movement, 
Lee  caused  Hooker  to  break  up  his  encampment  on  the  Rappahannock 
and  move  toward  Washington,  after  some  sharp  cavalry  fights  above 
Fredericksburg.  General  Ewell,  in  command  of  Lee's  left  wing,  was  sent 
into  the  Shenandoah  Valley  through  Chester  Gap,  and  sweeping  down 
toward  the  Potomac,  drove  General  Milroy  and  seven  thousand  National 
troops  across  that  stream,  on  the  i5th  of  June.  Meanwhile  Longstrect, 
with  a  strong  force,  moved  along  the  eastern  bases  of  the  Blue  Ridge, 
watching  for  an  opportunity  to  fall  on  Washington  city;  while  Hooker 
moved  in  a  parallel  line  to  thwart  him.  Several  cavalry  engagements  GENERAL  J. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


333 


GENERALS  GODFREY  WEITZEL  AND  KAUTZ 


MAJOR-GENERAL  GODFREY  WEITZEL  AND  GROUP  OF  OFFICERS 


334 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GOVERNOR  ANDREW  G.  CURTIN 
OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


ensued;  and  fifteen  hundred  mounted  Confederates  dashed  across  the  Potomac  in  pursuit  of  Milroy's 
wagon-train.  They  pushed  up  the  Cumberland  Valley  as  far  as  Chambersburg,  plundering  the  people 
and  causing  intense  alarm  in  all  Pennsylvania. 

Lee  had,  by  skillful  movements,  kept  Hooker  in  doubt  as  to  his  real  object,  until  Ewell's  corps  had 
crossed  the  Potomac  above  Harper's  Ferry  on  the  22d  and  23d  of  June, 
and  marched  rapidly  up  the  Cumberland  Valley  to  within  a  few  miles 
of  the  Susquehanna  opposite  Harrisburg,  the  capital  of  Pennsylvania. 
Another  large  body  of  Confederates,  led  by  General  Early,  pushed  on 
through  Gettysburg  to  York,  on  the  Susquehanna,  levying  contributions 
on  friend  and  foe  alike.  Ewell  and  Early  were  speedily  followed  by 
Hill  and  Longstreet  (June  25,  1863),  and  again  the  whole  of  Lee's  army 
was  in  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania.  It  seemed,  at  one  time,  as  if 
nothing  could  prevent  that  army  penetrating  to  the  Schuylkill  and  even 
to  the  Hudson.  The  panic  north  of  the  Potomac  was  intense.  Valuable 
goods  that  were  portable  were  sent  from  Philadelphia  to  points  above 
the  Hudson  Highlands,  for  safety.  The  people  flew  to  arms  everywhere 
to  oppose  the  invaders. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  now  one  hundred  thousand  strong. 
It  was  thrown  across  the  river  into  Maryland,  at  and  near  Edwards's 
Ferry.  Halleck  (the  general-in-chief)  and  Hooker  differed  most  de 
cidedly  in  opinions  about  some  important  military  movements  that  were 
proposed,  when  the  latter  resigned  and  was  succeeded  by  General  George 
G.  Meade,  who  held  the  command  of  that  army  until  the  close  of  the 
war.  Meade  entered  upon  his  duties  at  Frederick  (June  28)  in  Mary 
land,  where  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  lay,  ready  to  strike  Lee's  communications  or  to  attack  him,  as 
circumstances  might  dictate. 

Lee  was  preparing  to  cross  the  Susquehanna  and  push  on  to  Philadelphia,  when  news,  reached  him 
that  the  reinforced  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  threatening  his  flank  and  rear.  Alarmed  by  this  intelligence 
and  the  rapid  gathering  of  the  yeomanry  on  his  front,  he  ordered  the  concentration  of  his  army  near 
Gettysburg,  with  the  intention  of  crushing  Meade's  forces  by  a  single  blow,  and  then  marching  on 
Baltimore  and  Washington;  or,  in  case  of  failure,  to  secure  a  direct  line  of  retreat  into  Virginia.  In  the 
meantime  Meade  was  pushing  toward  the  Susquehanna  with  cautious  movement;  and  on  the  evening 
of  the  3oth  of  June  he  discovered  Lee's  evident  intention  to  give  battle  at  once. 

The  National  cavalry,  meanwhile,  had  been  carefully  reconnoitering;  and  on  the  previous  day, 
Kilpatrick's  mounted  men  had  a  sharp  fight  at  Hanover,  a  few  miles  from  Gettysburg,  with  some  of 
Stuart's  cavalry,  and,  assisted  by  General  Custer,  defeated  them.  Buford's  division  of  National  cavalry 
entered  Gettysburg  the  same  day;  and  the  next  day  the  left  wing  of  Meade's  army,  led  by  General  J.  F. 
Reynolds,  arrived  near  there.  At  the  same  time  the  corps  of  Hill  and  Longstreet  were  approaching 

from  Chambersburg,  and  Ewrell  was  marching  down  from  Carlisle  in  full 
force.  That  night  Buford's  cavalry,  six  thousand  strong,  encamped  be 
tween  Reynolds  and  Hill. 

On  the  morning  of  the  first  of  July,  Buford  met  the  van  of  Lee's 
army,  led  by  General  Heth,  between  Seminary  Ridge,  a  little  out  of 
Gettysburg,  and  a  parallel  ridge  a  little  further  west,  when  a  sharp 
skirmish  ensued.  Reynolds,  who  was  a  few  miles  distant,  hastened  to 
the  relief  of  Buford,  and  in  a  severe  battle  that  followed,  he  was  killed, 
and  General  Abner  Doubleday  took  command  of  his  troops.  In  the 
meantime  General  O.  O.  Howard  came  up  with  his  corps.  Lee's  troops 
were  then  concentrated  there,  and  the  battle  soon  assumed  grander  pro 
portions.  The  Nationals  were  finally  pressed  back;  and  under  the 
general  direction  of  Howard,  they  took  a  strong  position  on  a  range  of 
rocky  hills  near  Gettysburg,  of  which  Gulp's  Hill  and  Little  Round  Top 
were  the  two  extremes  of  the  line,  and  Cemetery  Hill,  at  the  village,  was 
the  apex.  There  the  Nationals  rested  that  night,  and  the  Confederates 
occupied  Seminary  Ridge. 

General  Meade,  with  the  remainder  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  now 
hastened  to  Gettysburg,  and  he  and  Lee  prepared  cautiously  to  renew 


GENERAL  JOHN  McA.  SCHOFIELD 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


335 


GENERAL  JEFFERSON  C.  DAVIS  AND  STAFF 


r^;*ts*t. 

.-.• 


,  .        *"^^          4jfcjL0*  -wLbflj      u"1    •*•*-  t»   -^ 

^.^>i^R?^pi?^pi 

•    i 


GENERALS  RAWLINS,  COMSTOCK,  DUNN,  GRANT,  MORGAN,  PARKER  AND  OTHERS 


336 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


the  battle.  It  did  not  begin  until  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  of  the  ?d,  when  Lee  fell,  with  great  weight, 
upon  Meade's  left  wing  commanded  by  General  Sickles.  A  most  sanguinary  battle  ensued,  extending 
to  the  centre  on  Cemetery  Hill,  where  General  Hancock  was  in  command.  Heavy  masses  of  Confederates 
were  hurled  against  him,  and  these  were  thrown  back  with  fearful  losses  011  both  sides.  Meanwhile  there 
had  been  a  terrible  struggle  on  the  right  and  centre  of  the  Nationals,  where  Generals  Slocum  and  Howard 
were  in  command,  the  former  on  Gulp's  Hill,  and  the  latter  on  Cemetery  Hill.  Against  these  a  large 
portion  of  Ewell's  corps  had  been  sent.  The  latter  were  pushed  back  by  Howard,  but  seized  and  occupied 
the  works  of  Slocum,  on  the  extreme  right  of  Gulp's  Hill,  that  night.  The  battle  ended  at  sunset  on 
the  left,  but  it  wras  continued  until  about  ten  o'clock  that  night  on  the  right. 

Slocum  renewed  the  battle  at  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  3d,  when  he  drove  the  Confederates 
out  of  his  lines  after  a  hard  struggle  for  four  hours.  There  he  held  Ewell  in  check,  while  the  contest  raged 
elsewhere.  Lee,  perceiving  the  Little  Round  Top — a  steep,  rocky  eminence — to  be  impregnable,  proceeded, 
at  a  little  past  noon,  to  attack  the  more  vulnerable  centre.  Upon  this  he  opened  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
heavy  cannon,  chiefly  against  Cemetery  Hill  and  its  vicinity,  occupied  by  Meade's  centre.  A  hundred 
National  great  guns  quickly  answered;  and  for  two  hours  a  fearful  cannonade  that  shook  the  country 
around  was  kept  up.  Then  the  Confederates,  in  heavy  columns,  preceded  by  a  cloud  of  skirmishers, 


BODIES  OF  FEDERAL  DEAD  ox  BATTLEFIELD,    GETTYSBURG 

swept  over  the  plain  and  assailed  the  National  line  with  great  fury.  It  was  intended  by  Lee  to  give  a 
crushing  blow  that  should  ensure  victory.  A  terrible  struggle  followed,  that  covered  the  ground  with 
the  slain — men  and^horses.  At  sunset  the  Confederates  were  repulsed  at  all  points;  and  the  decisive 
battle  of  Gettysburg  ended  in  triumph  for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  In  that  fearful  struggle,  the  Nationals 
lost  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing,  over  twenty-three  thousand  men;  the  Confederates  lost  about  thirty 
thousand,  including  fourteen  thousand  prisoners. 

On  the  evening  of  the  day  after  the  battle  (July  4,  1863)  Lee  began  a  retreat  toward  Virginia,  followed 
the  next  day  by  Meade,  who  pursued  as  far  as  the  Potomac,  which  had  been  filled  to  the  brim  by  heavy 
rains;  but  the  Confederate  leader,  by  skillful  management,  kept  the  Nationals  at  bay  until  he  had  made 
ready  to  cross  that  stream  by  pontoons  and  fording.  This  he  did  with  his  shattered  army,  his  artillery 
and  trains,  on  the  i4th  of  July,  much  to  the  disappointment  of  the  loyal  people.  Perceiving  the  battle 
to  be  a  decisive  one  in  favor  of  the  Union  cause,  and  believing  it  to  be  a  turning  point  in  the  war,  the 
President  of  the  United  States  recommended  the  people  to  observe  the  15  th  of  August  next  ensuing  as 
a  day  for  public  National  thanksgiving,  praise  and  prayer.  And  the  Secretary  of  State  (Mr.  Seward), 
satisfied  that  thasonsurrection  would  soon  be  ended  by  the  discomfiture  of  its  supporters,  sent  a  cheering 
circular  to  the  diplomatic  agents  of  the  Republic  abroad,  in  which  he  recited  the  most  important  events 
of  the  war  to  that  time;  declared  that  "the  country  showed  no  sign  of  exhaustion  of  money,  material 
,  or  men";  that  one  loan  was  "purchased  at  par  by  our  citizens  at  the  rate  of  $1,200,000  daily";  and 
that  gold  was  selling  in  our  markets  at  23  to  28  per  centum  premium. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


337 


GENERAL   IOHN  SEDGWICK  AND  STAFF 


GENERAL  GEORGE  G.  MEADE  AND  STAFF  SHOWING  GENERALS  INGALLS,  HUMPHREY  PATRICK,  AND  OTHFRS 


338 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

* 

Partisan  Opposition  to  the  Government — Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle — The  Draft  Riots  in  New  York — Colored  Troops  in  New  York — 
Morgan's  Great  Raid — Meade  and  Lee  in  Virginia  — Operations  of  the  Two  Armies  in  Virginia — Raid  in  Western  Virginia — Rose- 
crans  and  Bragg  in  Tennessee — Streight's  Great  Raid — Bragg  Driven  to  and  from  Chattanooga — Burnside  in  East  Tennessee — 
Battle  of  Chickamauga — The  Army  at  Chattanooga — Division  of  Mississippi — Battle  at  Wauhatchie — The  Mule  Charge — Events 
in  East  Tennessee — Battle  on  Lookout  Mountain  and  on  Missionary  Ridge— Operations  against  Charleston— Robert  Small — Death 
of  General  Mitchel. 

WHILE  the  loyal  people  were  rejoicing  because  of  the  great  deliverance  at  Gettysburg,  and  the 
Government  was  preparing  for    a  final  and  decisive  struggle  with  its  foes,  leading  politicians  of 
the  Peace-Faction,  evidently  in  affiliation  with  members  of  the  disloyal  organization  known  as 
Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  were  using  every  means  in  their  power  to  defeat  the  patriotic  purposes  of  the 
National  Administration,   and  to 
stir  up  the  people  of  the  free-labor 
States  to  engage  in  a  counter-revo 
lution. 

The  association  called  Knights 
of  the  Golden  Circle  was  organized, 
it  is  said,  as  early  as  1835,  by  some 
of  the  leaders  who  were  engaged  in 
the  nullification  movements  in 
South  Carolina  two  or  three  years 
before.  Its  chief  objects  were 
the  separation  of  the  Union  politi 
cally,  at  the  line  between  the 
free-labor  and  slave-labor  States; 
the  seizure  of  some  of  the  richest 
portions  of  Mexico  and  the  Island 
of  Cuba,  and  the  establishment  of 
an  empire  whose  corner  -  stone 
should  be  Slavery.  The  bounds  of 
that  empire  were  within  a  circle, 
the  centre  of  which  was  at  Havana, 
in  Cuba,  with  a  radius  of  sixteen 
degrees  of  latitude  and  longitude, 
reaching  northward  to  the  Penn 
sylvania  border  and  southward  to 
the  Isthmus  of  Darien  and  even 
beyond.  It  would  include  the 
West  India  Islands  and  those  of 
the  Caribbean  Sea,  with  a  large 
part  of  Eastern  Mexico  and  the 
whole  of  Central  America.  The 
limits  of  this  empire  the  projectors 
called  "The  Golden  Circle,"  and 
the  members  of  the  association,  "Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,"  who  formed  the  soul  of  all  the  "fili 
bustering"  operations  before  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War,  from  1850  to  1857.  When  these  failed, 
their  energies  were  put  forth  for  the  destruction  of  the  Union.  "Castles"  or  "lodges,"  with  a  secret 
ritual,  were  formed  in  various  Southern  States,  and  their  membership  included  many  active  politicians 
north  of  the  Ohio  River,  in  1863. 

These  disloyal  men  in  the  northern  States,  countenanced  by  the  unpatriotic  Peace-Faction,  became 
very  vehement  in  their  opposition  to  the  Government  when,  in  the  summer  of  1863,  a  draft  or  conscription 
to  fill  up  the  ranks  of  the  army,  which  had  been  authorized  by  Congress,  was  put  into  operation  by  the 
President.  This  act,  the  suspension  of  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  the  arrest  of  seditious 
men,  and  other  measures  which  the  Government  deemed  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  the  National 
authority,  were  denounced  by  the  leaders  of  the  party  opposed  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration,  as 


UEUT(iENJ.E.B.STUART, 

CAVALRY  CORPS. CS.A. 


COMMANDERS  OF  THF.  THIRD  CORPS  AND  CAVALRY  CORPS,  C.  S.  A.,  GETTYSBURG 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


339 


MAJOR-GENERAL  J.  F.  REYNOLDS  AND  OFFICERS  AT  GETTYSBURG 


WHERE  GENERAL  REYNOLDS  WAS  KILLED  AND  OTHER  VIEWS  AT  GETTYSBURG 


340 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


unconstitutional  and  outrageous.  Instigated  by  raving  political  leaders,  inflammatory  speeches,  and  the 
daily  utterances  of  the  press  that  was  in  sympathy  with  the  opponents  of  the  draft,  a  mob,  composed 
largely  of  the  lower  class  of  the  Irish  population  in  the  city  of  New  York,  entered  upon  a  fearful  riot  there 
early  in  July.  It  prevailed  for  almost  three  days.  The  immediate  pretext  for  the  disturbance  was  the 
alleged  oppression  of  the  draft.  The  riot  was  begun  by  destroying  the  telegraph  wires  extending  out  of 
the  city.  Then  the  rioters  paraded  some  of  the  streets  and  forced  citizens  to  join  them;  and  after  first 
uttering  cries  against  the  draft,  they  yelled,  ' '  Down  with  the  Abolitionists !  Down  with  the  nigger !  Hurrah 
for  Jeff  Davis!"  The  special  objects  of  their  wrath  were  the  innocent  colored  people  and  their  friends. 
Arson  and  plunder,  maiming  and  murder,  were  their  business  and  recreation.  Men  and  women  were 
clubbed  to  death  in  the  streets,  hung  on  lamp-posts  or  butchered  in  their  houses.  The  infuriated  rioters 
laid  in  ashes  an  asylum  for  colored  orphan  children ;  and  the  terrified  inmates,  who  fled  in  every  direction, 
were  pursued,  and  some  of  the  poor  children  were  cruelly  beaten  and  maimed.  The  colored  people 
throughout  the  city  were  hunted  and  treated  as  if  they  were  noxious  wild  beasts,  and  many  fled  to  the 
country.  Finally  the  police,  aided  by  troops,  suppressed  the  insurrection  in  the  city,  but  not  until  several 
hundred  human  lives  had  been  lost,  and  property  to  the  amount  of  at  least  $2,000,000  was  destroyed. 

This  riot  seems  to  have 
been  only  an  irregular  mani 
festation  of  an  organized 
outbreak  in  New  York  city 
simultaneously  with  a  sim 
ilar  insurrection  projected 
in  some  of  the  western  cities. 
But  the  draft  went  on  in 
spite  of  all  opposition;  and 
the  Knights  of  the  Golden 
Circle  and  the  Peace-Fac 
tion  were  discomfited.  The 
turn  of  affairs  at  Gettysburg 
made  them  more  circum 
spect.  They  hesitated ;  and 
finally  they  postponed  in 
definitely  an  attempt  to  ex 
ecute  their  scheme.  And 
six  months  after  the  terrible 
"three  days  of  July"- 
i3th,  i4th  and  i5th — in  the 
city  of  New  York,  when  no- 
colored  person's  life  was 
considered  safe  there,  a  reg 
iment  of  negro  soldiers, 

raised  and  equipped  by  the  Loyal  League  of  that  city,  marched  down  Broadway — its  great  thoroughfare — 
for  the  field  of  battle,  escorted  by  many  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  metropolis,  and  cheered  by  thousands, 
who  covered  the  sidewalks  and  filled  windows  and  balconies. 

At  about  that  time,  the  notorious  guerrilla  chief,  John  Morgan,  made  a  famous  raid  through  Kentucky, 
Southern  Indiana  and  Ohio,  entering  Indiana  from  Kentucky,  below  Louisville,  on  the  8th  of  July,  with 
about  four  thousand  mounted  men.  This  raid  was  intended  as  a  signal  for  the  uprising  of  the  disloyal 
men  in  those  States  in  favor  of  the  Confederates.  The  lesson  taught  at  Gettysburg  was  heeded,  and. 
they  were  quiet.  But  there  was  a  marvellous  uprising  of  sixty  thousand  loyal  yeomen  of  Indiana  and 
Ohio  to  capture  or  expel  the  invaders.  Morgan  went  swiftly  through  the  country,  from  village  to  village, 
plundering,  destroying,  and  levying  contributions.  He  first  encountered  stout  resistance  from  Indiana, 
militia,  and  was  soon  closely  pursued  by  those  of  Ohio.  Finally  this  bold  raider  was  hemmed  in  and 
made  a  prisoner,  with  many  of  his  followers,  in  southeastern  Ohio,  late  in  July,  and  the  remainder  were 
killed  or  dispersed. 

Three  days  after  General  Lee  escaped  into  Virginia,  General  Meade  crossed  the  Potomac  to  follow 
his  flying  antagonist.  The  Nationals  marched  rapidly  along  the  eastern  base  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  while- 
the  Confederates  as  rapidly  went  up  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  after  trying  to  check  Meade  by  threatening, 
to  re-enter  Maryland.  Failing  in  this,  Lee  hastened  to  avert  the  danger  that  menaced  his  front  and 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


341 


GENERAL  GEORGE  G.  MEADE  IN  CAMP 


A  WOUNDED  ZOUAVE 


342 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


Wjt 


COMMANDING  GENERALS  OF  THE  THIRD  ARMY  CORPS,  GETTYSBURG 


flank.  During  that  exciting  race,  several  skirmishes  occurred  in  the  mountain  passes;  when  Lee,  by  a 
quick  and  skillful  movement  while  Meade  was  detained  at  Manassas  Gap  by  a  heavy  skirmish,  darted 
through  Chester  Gap,  and  crossing  the  Rappahannock,  took  a  position  between  that  stream  and 
the  Rapidan. 
Meade  advanced 
cautiously,  and  at 
the  middle  of  Sep 
tember,  he  crossed 
the  Rappahannock 
and  drove  Lee  be 
yond  the  Rapi 
dan,  when  the  lat 
ter  took  a  strongly 
defensive  position. 
Meanwhile  the  Na 
tional  cavalry  un 
der  Buford  and  Kil- 
patrick  had  been 
active  between  the 
two  rivers,  and  had 
frequent  skirmishes 
with  Stuart's 
mounted  troops. 

Lee  now  at 
tempted  to  turn  the 
right  flank  of  the 
Army  of  the  Poto 
mac  to  gain  its  rear 
and  march  rapidly 

on  Washington.  He  had  moved  some  distance  for  this  purpose  before  Meade  discovered  his  peril.  Then 
a  third  race  for  the  National  Capital  by  the  two  armies  over  nearly  the  same  course  occurred.  The 
Army  of  the  Potomac  won  it,  reaching  Centreville  Heights  on  the  i5th  of  October.  It  was  a  race  marked 
by  the  most  stirring  incidents,  for  there  was  much  scouting  and  skirmishing  on  the  way.  At  Jeffersonton, 
the  National  cavalry  under  General  Gregg  were  routed;  and  at  Auburn,  the  seat  of  John  Minor  Botts, 
a  prominent  Virginia  statesman,  Stuart,  with  two  thousand  Confederate  cavalry,  came  very  near  being 
captured.  From  that  point  to  Bristow's  Station  the  race  was  sharp,  for  Centreville  Heights  was  the  goal. 
At  Bristow's,  a  severe  engagement  occurred  between  the  corps  of  Generals  Warren  and  Hill.  The  latter 
was  joined  by  that  of  Ewell;  but  before  they  could  fall  upon  Warren,  he  withdrew  in  the  night  (October 
14)  and  joined  Meade  at  Centreville  on  the  morning  of  the  i5th. 

The  race  was  ended  at  Bristow's  Station.  Lee  was  beaten,  and  fell  back  to  the  Rappahannock, 
destroying  the  railway  behind  him.  Meade  repaired  the  road,  and  following  Lee  slowly,  attacked  him  at 
Rappahannock  Station  early  in  November.  A  very  sharp  battle  ensued.  It  was  fought  by  detachments 
of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  corps,  under  General  Sedgwick;  and  it  was  ended  by  a  gallant  charge  on  a  redoubt 
and  rifle-trenches.  These  were  carried  in  the  face  of  a  tempest  of  grape-shot  and  minie  bullets,  when  the 
Nationals  swept  down  to  a  pontoon  bridge,  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  Confederates  from  the  abandoned 
works,  made  over  sixteen  hundred  of  them  prisoners,  and  drove  Lee's  army  toward  Culpepper  Court- 
House.  There  the  latter  had  proposed  to  go  into  winter  quarters;  but  this  disaster  alarmed  him,  and 
he  sought  safety  from  his  pursuer  behind  the  Rapidan.  His  force  was  then  fifty  thousand  strong, 
and  Meade's  numbered  seventy  thousand.  With  these  the  latter  crossed  the  Rappahannock  and  lay 
quietly  between  the  two  rivers  until  late  in  November,  while  Lee  occupied  a  line  of  strong  defences  along 
Mine  Run. 

Feeling  strong  enough  for  the  enterprise,  Meade  proceeded,  on  the  26th  of  November,  to  attempt  a 
dislodgment  of  his  antagonist.  He  crossed  the  Rapidan  on  that  day,  and  pushed  on  in  the  direction 
of  his  foe.  General  Warren,  in  the  advance,  opened  a  battle;  but  Meade  soon  perceived  that  the  Con 
federates  were  too  strongly  intrenched  and  weighty  in  numbers  to  give  him  hopes  of  success,  and  he 
withdrew.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  went  into  winter-quarters  on  the  north  side  of  the  Rapidan: 
and  so  was  ended  the  campaign  of  that  army  for  the  year  1863. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


343 


VIEWS  OF  LITTLE  ROUND  TOP  AND  TROSTI.E'S  BARN.  BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG 


344 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


There  had  been  comparative  quiet  in  Western  Virginia  since  the  autumn  of  1861 ;  but  in  the  summer 
and  fall  of  1863,  that  quiet  was  broken  by  an  extensive  raid  over  that  region  by  National  cavalry  led  by 
General  W.  W.  Averill,  who,  before  the  close  of  the  year,  nearly  purged  West  Virginia  of  armed  Confed 
erates,  and  seriously  interrupted  railway  communication  between  the  army  of  Lee  in  Virginia  and  Bragg 
in  Tennessee.  We  left  the  last-named  officer  and  Rosecrans  confronting  each  other  in  Tennessee,  after 
the  battle  of  Murfreesboro' ;  Bragg  below  the  Duck  River  and  Rosecrans  at  the  scene  of  the  battle.  The 
two  armies  held  that  relative  position  from  January  to  June,  1863 ;  while  the  cavalry  forces  of  each  were 
active  in  minor  operations.  Confederate  cavalry,  four  thousand  strong,  led  by  Generals  Wharton  and 
Forrest,  attempted  to  capture  Fort  Donelson  early  in  February,  but  failed.  A  little  later  General  Van 
Dorn,  with  a  considerable  force  of  cavalry,  was  near  Franklin,  below  Nashville,  threatening  Rosecrans's 
supplies  at  the  latter  place.  In  March, 
General  Sheridan  drove  Van  Dorn  south 
of  the  Duck  River;  and  in  the  same 
month  Morgan  was  operating  with  con 
siderable  effect  eastward  of  Murfrees 
boro'.  Van  Dorn  reappeared  near 
Franklin,  early  in  April,  with  about 
nine  thousand  Confederates;  and  on 
the  zoth  he  attacked  the  Nationals 
there,  who  were  commanded  by  General 
Gordon  Granger.  Van  Dorn  intended, 
if  he  won,  to  push  on  and  seize  Nash 
ville;  but  he  was  repulsed,  and  retired 
to  Spring  Hill  with  a  loss  of  about  three 
hundred  men. 

In  the  meantime  Rosecrans  had 
sent  out  expeditions  in  various  ways, 
the  most  remarkable  of  which  was  led 
by  Colonel  A.  D.  Streight,  who  left 
Nashville  in  steamers,  debarked  his 
troops  at  Fort  Donelson,  marched  over 
to  the  Tennessee  River,  and  moved  up 
that  stream  to  the  borders  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama,  getting  horses  by  the  way  for  the  purpose  of 
mounting  his  men.  The  latter  service  was  nearly  completed  at  Tuscumbia;  and  from  that  point  Streight, 
with  his  troopers,  swept  in  a  curve  bending  eastward,  through  Alabama  into  Georgia,  in  the  rear  of 
Bragg's  army.  Their  chief  objects  were  Rome,  where  the  Confederates  had  extensive  iron-works,  and 
Atlanta,  the  centre  of  an  important  system  of  railroads.  They  were  pursued  by  the  cavalry  of  Forrest 
and  Roddy,  and  these  parties  skirmished  and  raced  until  Streight  was  within  a  few  miles  of  Rome,  when 
his  exhausted  horses  and  his  ammunition  failed  him.  Many  of  the  poor  beasts  died;  and  when,  on  the 
3d  of  May  (1863),  the  raiders  were  struck  by  their  pursuers,  the  former  were  compelled  to  surrender. 
The  captives  were  sent  to  Richmond  and  confined  in  the  loathsome  Libby  Prison,  from  which  Streight 
and  one  hundred  of  his  officers  escaped  by  burrowing  under  the  foundations  of  that  edifice. 

The  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  in  three  divisions,  commanded  respectively  by  Generals  Thomas, 
McCook  and  Crittenden,  began  its  march  from  Murfreesboro'  to  Chattanooga,  in  northern  Georgia, 
late  in  June.  Bragg  was  then  strongly  intrenched  on  the  line  of  the  Duck  River,  but  was  pushed  back 
to  Tullahoma;  and  when  he  saw  Rosecrans  seize  the  mountain  passes  on  his  front,  and  seriously  menace 
his  flank,  he  turned  and  fled  without  giving  a  blow,  his  antagonist  pressing  hard  upon  his  rear.  Having 
the  advantage  of  railway  communication,  the  retreating  army  very  easily  kept  ahead  of  their  pursuers, 
and  passing  rapidly  over  the  Cumberland  Mountains  toward  the  Tennessee  River,  they  crossed  that 
stream  at  Bridgeport,  destroying  the  bridge  behind  them,  and  made  a  rapid  march  to  Chattanooga. 

The  expulsion  of  Bragg's  army  from  Tennessee  alarmed  and  disheartened  the  Confederates,  and 
they  felt  that  everything  depended  on  their  holding  Chattanooga,  the  key  to  East  Tennessee  and  northern 
Georgia.  Toward  that  point  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  moved  slowly;  and  late  in  August  it  had  crossed 
the  mountains,  and  was  stretched  along  the  Tennessee  River  from  above  Chattanooga,  many  a  league 
westward.  On  the  2ist  of  August,  National  artillery  placed  on  the  eminence  opposite  Chattanooga 
awakened  the  mountain  echoes  with  their  thunder,  and  sent  screaming  shells  over  the  Confederate  camp. 
Bragg  was  startled  by  a  sense  of  immediate  danger;  and  when,  soon  afterward,  Generals  Thomas  and 


FIRST  CORPS  C.  S.  A.  AT  BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


345 


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346 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


BRIG.-GENERAL  J.  KILPATRICK 


McCook  crossed  the  Tennessee,  with  their  corps,  and  took  possession  of  the  passes  of  Lookout  Mountain 
on  Bragg's  flank,  and  Crittenden  took  post  at  Wauhatchie,  in  Lookout  Valley,  nearer  the  river,  the 
Confederates  abandoned  Chattanooga,  passed  through  the  gaps  of  Missionary  Ridge  and  encamped  on 

the  Chickamauga  Creek  near  Lafayette,  in  northern  Georgia,  there  to 
meet  expected  National  forces  when  pressing  through  the  gaps  of  Look 
out  Mountain  and  threatening  their  communications  with  Dalton  and 
Resaca.  From  the  lofty  summit  of  Lookout  Mountain,  Crittenden  had 
observed  the  retreat  of  Bragg  from  the  Tennessee  River,  and  he  imme 
diately  led  his  forces  into  the  Chattanooga  Valley  and  encamped  at 
Ross's  Gap  in  Missionary  Ridge,  within  three  miles  of  the  town. 

General  Burnside  was  then  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  and 
had  been  ordered  to  co-operate  with  Rosecrans.  With  twenty  thousand 
men  he  climbed  over  the  Cumberland  Mountains  into  the  magnificent 
Valley  of  East  Tennessee,  his  baggage  and  stores  carried,  in  many  places, 
on  the  backs  of  pack-mules.  On  his  entering  the  Valley,  twenty  thou 
sand  Confederates  in  East  Tennessee,  commanded  by  General  Buckner, 
fled  to  Georgia  and  joined  Bragg,  when  Burnside  took  a  position  near 
the  Tennessee  River,  so  as  to  have  easy  communication  with  Rosecrans 
at  Chattanooga.  The  latter,  meanwhile,  erroneously  supposing  Bragg 
had  begun  a  retreat  toward  Rome,  had  pushed  through  the  mountain 
passes,  when  he  wras  surprised  to  find  that  general,  instead  of  retreating, 
concentrating  his  forces  to  attack  the  attenuated  line  of  the  Nationals, 
the  extremities  of  which  were  fifty  miles  apart.  Rosecrans  proceeded  at 

once  to  concentrate  his  own  forces;  and  very  soon  the  two  armies  were  confronting  each  other  in  battle 
array,  on  each  side  of  Chickamauga  Creek,  in  the  vicinity  of  Crawfish  Spring,  each  line  extending  toward 
the  slopes  of  Missionary  Ridge.  General  Thomas,  who  was  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  National  line, 
opened  the  battle  on  the  morning  of  the  igth  of  September.  It  raged  with  great  fierceness  until  dark, 
when  the  Nationals  seemed  to  have  the  advantage.  That  night  General  Longstreet,  wrhom  Lee  had 
sent  from  Virginia  to  assist  Bragg,  arrived  with  fresh  troops  which  swelled  the  Confederate  army  to 
seventy  thousand  men,  and  gave  to  it  a  far  better  soldier  than  the  chief  leader.  Rosecrans's  army  did 
not  then  exceed,  in  number,  fifty-five  thousand  men. 

On  the  morning  of  the  2oth  the  contest  was  renewed  after  a  thick  fog  had  risen  from  the  earth. 
There  was  a  fearful  struggle.  A  furious  charge  upon  the  National  right  had  shattered  it  into  frag 
ments,  and  these  fled  in  disorder  toward  Chattanooga.  This  tide  carried  with  it  the  troops  led  by 
Rosecrans,  Crittenden  and  McCook;  and  the  commanding-general,  unable  to  join  Thomas,  and 
believing  the  whole  army  would  speedily  be  hurrying  pell-mell  toward  Chattanooga,  hastened  to 
that  place  to  provide  for 
rallying  them  there.  Gen 
erals  Sheridan  and  J.  C. 
Davis  rallied  a  part  of  these 
troops,  and  Thomas  stood 
firm,  frustrating  every  effort 
to  turn  his  flank.  Forty- 
eight  hours  after  the  battle 
the  army,  which  had  been 
withdrawn  to  Chattanooga, 
was  strongly  intrenched 
there. 

Victory  crowned  the 
Confederates  in  the  battle 
of  Chickamauga,  but  at  the 
fearful  cost  of  about  twenty- 
one  thousand  men  killed, 
wounded,  and  made  pris 
oners.  The  Nationals  lost 
about  nineteen  thousand 
men.  During  the  contest  a  GENERAL  J.  KILPATRICK  AND  STAFF 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


347 


MAJ.  GEN,  O.O.HOWARD 

ELEVENTH  CORPS, 

U.S.A. 


!  MAJ6EN.H.W.SLOCUM. 

TWELFTH  CORPS 
U.S.A 


P*^ 


COMMANDERS  OF  THE  IITH,  I2TH  AND  CAVALRY  CORPS  AT  BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG 


348 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


litl  -'  volunteer  soldier  named  John  Clem,  then  about  twelve  years  of  age,  performed  a  deed  of  daring. 
He  had  been  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight  when,  separated  from  his  companions,  he  was  seen  running  with 
a  musket  in  his  hand  by  a  mounted  Confederate  colonel,  who  called  out,  "Stop!  you  little  Yankee  devil!" 

The  boy  halted,  with  his  musket  to  an  order,  when  the  colonel  rode  up 
to  make  him  a  prisoner.  Young  Clem,  with  swift  motion,  brought  up 
his  gun  and  shot  the  colonel  dead.  The  boy  escaped;  and  for  this 
achievement  he  was  made  a  sergeant,  put  on  duty  at  the  headquarters 
of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  placed  on  the  roll  of  honor  by  General 
Rosecrans.  He  grew  to  manhood,  married,  and  held  a  position  in  one 
of  the  departments  of  Government  in  Washington. 

For  a  time  the  vanquished  army  suffered  much  at  Chattanooga,  for 
communication  with  their  supplies  by  the  Tennessee  was  cut  off,  the 
Confederates  occupying  Lookout  Mountain  and  commanding  that 
stream.  Bragg  hoped  to  starve  his  foes  into  submission.  He  strove  to 
deprive  them  of  all  supplies,  and  severe  struggles  between  detachments 
of  the  two  armies  were  the  consequences.  Bragg  failed.  The  National 
Government  had  determined  to  hold  Chattanooga,  and  orders  were  given 
for  the  consolidation  of  the  armies  of  the  Cumberland  and  Tennessee, 
constituting  the  military  division  of  the  Mississippi,  with  General  Grant 
as  commander-in-chief.  He  had  secured  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  River,  after  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson,  by  driving 
the  Confederates,  under  Johnston,  from  the  vicinity  and  strongly  forti 
fying  the  first-named  place;  and  when  he  took  command  of  the  new 
division,  General  Sherman  was  made  the  leader  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  and  General  Thomas  was 
placed  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  Rosecrans  having  been  ordered  to  St.  Louis. 

When  Grant  arrived  at  Chattanooga,  he  ordered  Hooker,  who  was  at  Bridgeport,  to  advance  to 
Lookout  Valley,  menace  Bragg's  flank,  and  protect  the  passage  of  supplies  up  the  Tennessee  to  within 
a  short  distance  from  the  famishing  armies.  This  was  promptly  done.  Hooker's  main  force  took  post 
at  Wauhatchie,  where  he  was  attacked  before  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  2gth  of  October.  After  a 
battle  for  three  hours  in  the  darkness,  the  Confederates  were  beaten  and  driven  away.  An  amusing 
incident  of  this  struggle  occurred.  When  it  began,  about  two  hundred  mules,  frightened  by  the  noise, 
broke  from  their  tethers  and  dashed  into  the  ranks  of  Wade  Hampton's  legion,  and  produced  a  great 
panic.  The  Confederates  supposed  it  to  be  a  charge  of  Hooker's  cavalry,  and  fell  back,  at  first,  in  great 
confusion.  The  incident  was  a  theme  for  a  mock-heroic  poem  of  six  stanzas  in  imitation  of  Tennyson's 
"Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade,"  two  verses  of  which  were  as  follows: 


GENERAL  J.  C.  PEMHERTON 


"Forward,  the  mule  brigade — 
Was  there  a  mule  dismay 'd? 
Not  when  their  long  cars  felt 
All  their  ropes  sundered. 
Theirs  not  to  make  reply — 
Theirs  not  to  reason  why — 
Theirs  but  to  make  them  fly — 
On!  to  the  Georgia  troops 
Broke  the  two  hundred. 


"Mules  to  the  right  of  them — 
Mules  to  the  left  of  them  — 
Mules  all  behind  them — 

Paw'd,  neigh'd,  and  thundered; 
Breaking  their  own  confines — 
Breaking  through  Longstreet's  lines- 
Testing  chivalric  spines, 
Into  the  Georgia  troops 

Storm'd  the  two  hundred." 


After  this  battle,  the  Tennessee  was  free  for  vessels  with  supplies  for  the  National  troops,  and  the 
two  armies  lay  confronting  each  other,  only  about  three 
miles  apart. 

Meanwhile  there  had  been  stirring  events  in  the  Val 
ley  of  East  Tennessee,  where  Burnside  was  trying  to  expel 
the  Confederates.  In  these  efforts  he  had  spread  his  army 
considerably.  Perceiving  this,  Bragg  sent  Longstreet  to 
the  Valley  with  a  strong  force  to  seize  Knoxville  and  drive 
out  the  Nationals.  He  advanced  swiftly  and  secretly; 
and  on  the  2oth  of  October  he  struck  a  startling  blow  at 
Burnside's  outposts  at  Philadelphia.  In  obedience  to  a 
command  from  Grant,  the  latter  concentrated  his  forces 
(Ninth  Army  Corps),  fell  back  to  Knoxville,  and  there 
intrenched.  Longstreet  pressed  forward,  and  after  some 


GENERAL  PEMBERTON' 


1UARTERS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


349 


SCENES  AT  TIII-:  BATTI.KRELD  OF  GETTYSBURG 


350 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


JOHN  BURNS'  COTTAGE  AT  GETTYSBURG 


fighting  by  the  way,  he  began  a  regular  siege  of  Knoxville  at  the  middle  of  November.     He  continued  it 
to  the  close  of  the  month,  when  Generals  Granger  and  Sherman  were  sent  to  the  relief  of  Burnside,  and 

caused  the  swift  flight  of  Longstreet  toward  Virginia. 
By  this  blunder,  Bragg  had  lost  the  support  of  this  superior 
commander. 

Hostilities  had  again  occurred  near  Chattanooga. 
General  Sherman  arrived  there,  with  his  army,  from  the 
West.  So  strengthened,  Grant  determined  to  attack 
Bragg  in  the  absence  of  Longstreet.  On  the  23d  of  No 
vember,  General  Thomas  seized  a  commanding  eminence 
in  front  of  Missionary  Ridge,  called  Orchard  Knob,  and 
fortified  it;  and  Hooker  was  ordered  to  attack  Bragg's 
left,  on  Lookout  Alountain,  the  next  morning,  to  divert 
attention  from  the  movements  of  Sherman,  who  was  to 
cross  the  Tennessee,  above  Chattanooga,  and  fall  upon 
Bragg's  right,  on  the  Ridge.  Hooker  moved  with  vigor, 

fighting  his  way  up  the  rugged  wooded  steeps  of  Lookout  Mountain  with  musket,  rifle  and  cannon,  driving 
the  Confederates  before  him.  During  the  heaviest  of  the  struggle  the  mountain  was  hooded  in  vapor 
that  arose  from  the  Tennessee  and  hid  the  combatants  from  the  view  of  the  anxious  spectators  at  Chat 
tanooga.  They  could  hear  the  thunders  of  the  artillery,  but  the  warriors  were  invisible.  It  was  literally 
a  battle  in  the  clouds.  Finally  the  Confederates  were  driven  to  the  summit;  and  that  night  they  fled 
down  the  northern  slopes  to  the  Chattanooga  Valley,  and  joined  their  commander  on  Missionary  Ridge. 
In  the  crisp  air  and  the  sunlight,  the  next  morning,  the  Stars  and  Stripes  was  seen  waving  over  "Pulpit 
Rock,"  on  the  crest  of  Lookout  Mountain,  from  which,  a  few  days  before,  Jefferson  Davis  had  harangued 
the  troops,  assuring  them  that  all  was  well  with  the  Confederacy. 

Sherman,  in  the  meantime,  had  crossed  the  Tennessee  River  and  secured  a  position  on  the  northern 
end  of  Missionary  Ridge,  on  which  Bragg  had  concentrated  all  his  forces,  and  there  the  Confederates  were 
attacked  on  front  and  flank  on  the  25th  of  November.  Hooker  came  down  from  Lookout  Mountain,  and 
entering  Ross's  Gap,  attacked  Bragg's  left,  while  Sherman  was  assailing  his  right.  There  was  a  fearful 
struggle,  beheld  with  intense  interest  by  General  Grant,  who  stood  on  Orchard  Knob  and  directed  the 
movements  of  the  National  army.  At  length  the  centre,  under  General  Thomas,  moved  up  the  declivities; 
and  Very  soon  the  Confederates  were  driven  from  the  Ridge,  when  they  fled  toward  Ringgold,  followed  by  a 
portion  of  the  National  army.  At  Ringgold,  a  sharp  engagement  occurred,  when  the  Confederates  retreated 
to  Dalton,  the  Nationals  fell  back,  and  Sherman  hastened  to  the  relief  of  Burnside,  as  already  mentioned. 
General  Grant  reported  the  Union  loss,  in  the  series  of  struggles  which  ended  in  victory  at  Missionary 
Ridge,  at  five  thousand  six  hundred  and  sixteen,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.  The  Confederate  loss 
was  about  three  thousand  one  hundied  killed  and  wounded,  and  a  little  more  than  six  thousand  prisoners. 


JOHN  BURN'S  THE'HERO  or  &ETTYSBURC- 

5ITTINC,  IN  FRONT  OF  HIS  DOOR 
WITH  RIFLE    AND    CRUTCHES. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


351 


VIEWS  ON  THE  BATTLEFIELD  OF  GETTYSBURG 


352 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHRONOLOGICAL  SUMMARY  AND  RECORD— Continued 


APRIL,  1864 — Continued  from  Section   10 

6— Quicksand  Creek,  Ky.     Co.  I  14th  Ky.     Confed.  10  killed,  7  wounded. 
7 — Wilson's  Farm,  La.      Advance  Cavalry  of  Xineteenth  Corps.      Union  14 

killed,  39  wounded.     Confed.  15  killed,  40  wounded,  100  captured. 
Near  Port  Hudson,  La.      Detachment  118th  111.,  3d  111.  Cav.,  21st  X.  V. 

Battery.      Union  1  killed,  4  wounded. 

8  and  9 — Sabine  Cross  Roads  and.  Pleasant  Hills,  La.     Portions  of  Thir 
teenth,  Sixteenth  and  Xineteenth  Corps  and  Cavalry  Division  Army 

of  Dept.  of  the  Gulf.      Union  300  killed,  1,600  wounded,  2,100  missing. 

Confed.   GOO  killed,   2,400  wounded,   500  missing.      Union   Maj.-Gcn. 

Franklin     and     Brig. -Gen.     Ransom     wounded.      Confed.     Maj.-Gen. 

Moulton  and  Brig.-Gen.  Parsons  killed. 
10  to   13 — Prairie   D'Ann,   Ark.      3d    Division   Seventh   Corps.      Union    100 

killed  and  wounded.     Confed.  50  killed  and  wounded. 
12 — Pleasant   Hill    Landing,    La.      Seventeenth   Corps  and   U.   S.   Gunboats 

Osage  and   Lexington.      Union   7    wounded.      Confed.    200   killed   and 

wounded. 
13 — Moscow,  Ark.      18th  Iowa,  6th  Kan.  Cav.,  2d  Ind.  Battery.      Union  5 

killed,  17  wounded.     Confed.  30  killed  and  wounded. 
13  and  14 — Paintsville  and  Half-Mount,.  Ky.     Ky.  Volunteers.      Union  4 

wounded.     Confed.  25  killed,  25  wounded. 
14— Sirnthfield  or  Cherry  Grove,  Va.     9th  X.  J.,  23d  and  25th  Mass.,  118th 

X.  Y.      Union  5  wounded.      Confed.  6  wounded. 

15— Bristoe  Station,  Va.      13th  Pa.  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  2  wounded. 
15  and  16 — Liberty  P.  O.,  and  occupation  of  Camden,  Ark.     29th  Iowa,  50th 

Ind.,  9th  Wis.      Union  255  killed  and  wounded. 
17— Decatur,  Ala.     25th  Wis.      Union  2  wouryled. 
17  to  20— Plymouth,  X.  C.     85th  X.  Y.,  103d  Pa.,  16th  Conn,  and  the  Xavy. 

Union    20   killed,    80   wounded,    1,500   missing.      Confed.    500    killed, 

wounded  and  missing.     Lieut. -Com.  Flusser,  U.  S.  X.,  killed. 
18 — Poison  Springs,  eight  miles  from  Camden,  Ark.     Forage  train  guarded 

by  18th  Iowa,  79th  U.  S.  Colored,  6th  Kan.  Cav.      Union  113  killed, 

88  wounded,  68  missing. 
Boyken's  Mills,  S.  C.     54th  Mass.,  U.  S.  Colored.      Union  2  killed,  18 

wounded. 
21— Cotton  Plate,   Cache  River,  Ark.     8th   Mo.   Cav.      Union  5  killed,  2 

wounded. 

Red  Bone,  Miss.,  2d  Wis.  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  6  wounded. 
22— Xear  Tunica  Bend,  Red  River,  La.     Three  Cos.  3d  R.  I.  Cav.      Union  2 

killed,  17  wounded. 
23— Xickajack   Trace.    Ga.      Detachment    of   92d    111.      Union    5   killed,    9 

wounded,  22  taken  prisoners,  of  whom  12  were  shot  down  and  (i  died 

from  wounds. 
23  and  24—  Moneti's  Bluff,  Cane  River  and  Cloutersville,  La.     Portion  of 

Thirteenth,   Seventh  and    Xineteenth   Corps.      Union  350  killed   and 

wounded.     Confed.  400  killed  and  wounded. 
25— Mark's  Mills,  Ark.     30th  Iowa,  77th  Ohio,  43d  111.,  1st  Ind.  Cav.,  7th 

Mo.    Cav.,    Battery   E   2d    Mo.    Light   Artil.      Union    100  killed,    250 

wounded,  100  missing.      Confed.   110  killed,  228  wounded,  40  missing. 
25  and  26 — Wautauga  Bridge,  Tenn.      10th  Mich.  Cav.      Union  3  killed,  9 

wounded. 
26 — Moro  Creek,  Ark.     33d  and  40th  Iowa,  5th  Kan.,  2d  and  4th  Mo.,  1st 

Iowa  Cav.      Union  5  killed,  14  wounded. 
29— Princeton,  Ark.     40th  Iowa,  43d  111.,  6th  Kan.  Cav.,  3d  111.  Battery. 

Casualties  not  recorded. 
30 — Jenkins'    Ferry,    Saline    River,    Ark.     3d    Division   of   Seventh    Corps 

Union  200  killed,  955  wounded.     Confed.  300  killed,  800  wounded. 

MAY,   1864 

1— Jacksonville,  Fla.     7th  U.  S.  Colored.      Union  1  killed. 

1  to  8 — Hudnot's  Plantation  and  near  Alexandria,  La.  Cavalry  of  Thir 
teenth  and  Xineteenth  Corps.  Union  33  killed,  87  wounded  Con- 
fed.  25  killed,  100  wounded. 

2 — Gov.  Moor's  Plantation,  La..  Foraging  of  Detachment  of  83d  Ohio 
and  3d  R.  I.  Cav.  Union  2  killed,  10  wounded. 

3 — Red  Clay,  Ga.     1st  Division  of  McCook's  Cav.      Union  10  killed  and 

wounded. 
Richland.  Ark.     2d  Ark.  Cav.      Union  20  killed. 

4 — Doubtful  Canon,  Ariz.  Detachment  of  5th  Cav.  and  1st  Cal.  Cav. 
Union  1  killed,  6  wounded.  Confed.  10  killed,  20  wounded. 

4  to  12 — Kautz's  Cavalry  Raid  from  Suffolk,  Wall's  Bridge,  Stoney  Creek 
Station,  Jarrett's  Station,  White's  Bridge  to  City  Point  Va  5th  and 
llth  Pa.  Cav.,  3d  X.  Y.  Cav.,  1st  D.  C.  Cav.,  8th  X.  Y.  Battery. 
Union  10  killed,  wounded  and  missing.  Confed.  20  wounded,  50 
prisoners. 

4  to  13 — Yazoo  City  expedition,  including  Benton  and  Vaughn   Miss       1 1th 

72d  and  76th  111.,  5th   111.  Cav.,  3d  U.  S.   Colored  Cav.,  7th  Ohio 
Battery.      Union  5  killed,  20  wounded. 

6 — Ram  Albermarle,  Roanoke  River,  X.  C.  U.  S.  Gunboats,  Ceres,  Com 
modore  Hull,  MaUabesett,  Sassncus,  Seymour,  H'yahising,  Miama  and 
\\'hitehead.  Union  5  killed,  26  wounded.  Confed.  57  captured. 
Dunn's  Bayou,  Red  River,  La.  56th  Ohio,  on  board  U.  S.  Gunboat 
Signal,  steamer  Corington  and  transport  Warner.  Union  35  killed,  65 
wuunded,  150  missing. 

5  to   7  -Wilderness,    Va.      Army   of   the    Potomac,    Maj.-Gen.    George    G. 

Meade;  Second  Corps,   Maj.-Gen.    Hancock;  Fifth  Corps,   Maj.-Gen. 


Confed.  Gens.  Jones  and  Pickett  killed,  and  Longstreet,  Peg r a m . 
Stafford,  Hunter  and  Jennings  wounded. 

5  to  9— Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Ga.,  including  Tunnel  Hill,  Mill  Creek  Gap  and 
Buzzard's  Roost.  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  Mai-Gen.  Thomas- 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  Maj.-Gen.  McPherson.  Army  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  Maj.-Gen.  Sherman.  Union  200  killed,  637  wounded.  Confed. 
600  killed  and  wounded. 

6— James  River,  near  City  Point,  Va.  U.  S.  Gunboat  Commodore  Jones 
Union  23  killed.  4S  wounded. 


6  and  7— Richmond  and   Petersburg  Railroad,  near  Chester  Station,   Va. 

Portion    of    Tenth    and    Eighteenth    Corps.      Union    48    killed,    256 

wounded.     Confed.  50  killed,  200  wounded. 
7 — -Bayou  La  Mourie,  La.      Portion  of  Sixteenth  Corps.      Union  10  killed, 

31  wounded. 
8 — -Todd's  Tavern,  Va.      2d  Division  Cavalry  Corps  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

Union  40  killed,  150  wounded.     Confed.  30  killed,  150  wounded. 

8  to  18 — Spottsylvania,   Fredericksburg  Road,  Laurel  Hill  and   Ny  River, 

Va.  Army  of  the  Potomac,  Maj.-Gen.  Meade;  Second  Corps,  Maj.- 
Gen.  Hancock;  Fifth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Warren;  Sixth  Corps,  Maj.- 
Gen.  Wright;  Xinth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Burnside  and  Sheridan's 
Cavalry.  Union  4,177  killed,  19,687  wounded,  2,577  missing.  Cont'"d. 
1,000  killed,  5,000  wounded,  3,000  missing.  Union  Maj.-Gen. 
Sedgwick  and  Brig. -Gens.  Rice,  Owens,  and  Stevenson  killed;  Brig.- 
Gens.  Robertson,  Bartlett,  Morris  and  Baxter  wounded.  Confed. 
Gens.  Daniels  and  Perrin  killed,  Haye?  and  Walker  wounded  and 
Maj.-Gen.  Ed.  Johnson  and  Brig-Gen.  Stewart  captured. 
9 — Varnell's  Station,  Ga.  1st  Div.  McCook's  Cav.  Union  4  killed.  25 
wounded. 

9  and  10 — Swift  Creek  or  Arrowfield  Church,  Va.      Tenth  and  Eighteenth 

Corps.      Union  90  kilted,  400  wounded.      Confed.  500  missing. 
Cloyd's    Mountain   and    Xew   River   Bridge,   Va.      12th,   23d.   34th   and 
36th  Ohio,  9th  llth,  14th  and  15th  W.  Va.,  3d  and  4th  Pa.  Reserves 
Union   126  killed,  585  wounded.     Confed.  600  killed  and  wounded, 
300  missing. 

9  to  13 — Sheridan's  Cavalry  Raid  in  Virginia,  engagements  Beaver  Dam 
Station,  South  Anna  Bridge,  Ashland  and  Yellow  Tavern.  Union 
50  killed,  174  wounded,  200  missing.  Confed.  killed  and  wounded 
not  recorded,  100  prisoners.  Confed.  Maj.-Gen.  J.  E.  B.  Stuart 
killed  and  J.  B.  Gordon  wounded. 

12  to  16— Fort  Darling,  Drury's  Bluff,  Va.  Tenth  and  Eighteenth  Corps. 
Union  422  killed,  2,380  wounded,  210  missing.  Confed.  400  kille-  1, 
2,000  wounded,  100  missing. 

12  to  17 — Kautz's  Raid  on  Petersburg  and  Lynchburg  Railroad,  Va.      Union 

U  killed,  28  wounded. 

13  to  16— Resaca,  Ga.      Fourth,  Fourteenth,  Twentieth  and  Cavalry  Corps, 

Army  of  the  Cumberland,  Maj.-Gen.  Thomas;  Fifteenth  and  Six 
teenth  Corps,  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  Maj.-Gen.  McPherson,  and 
Twenty-third  Corps,  Army  of  the  Ohio,  Maj.-Gen.  Schofield.  Union 
600  killed,  2,147  wounded.  Confed.  300  killed,  1,500  wounded,  1,000 
missing.  Confed.  Brig.-Gen.  Wadkins  kil'ed. 
15 — Mount  Pleasant  Landing,  La.  07th  U.  S.  Colored.  Union  3  killed,  5 

wounded. 
Xew  Market,  Va.      Maj.-Gen.  Sigel's  command.      Union  120  killed,  ">PO 

wounded,  240  missing.      Confed.  85  killed,  320  wounded. 
Tanner's  Bridge,  Ga.     2d  Division  Cavalry,  Army  of  the  Cumberland. 
Union  2  killed,  16  wounded. 

16  to  30— Bermuda  Hundred,  Va.     Tenth  and  Eighteenth  Corps,  Army  of 

the  James.  Union  200  killed,  1,000  wounded.  Confed.  3,000  killed, 
wounded  and  missing. 

17  and  18— Adairsville  and  Calhoun,  Ga.     Fourth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Howard 

Casualties  not  recorded. 
18 — Rome  and  Kingston,  Ga.      2d  Division  of  Fourteenth  Corps  and  Cavalry 

Army  of  the  Cumberland.      Union  16  killed,  59  wounded. 
Bayou    De    Glaize    or    Calhoun    Station,    La.      Portions    of    Sixteenth, 
Seventeenth  and  Cavalry  of  Xineteenth  Corps.      Union  60  killed,  .iJO 
wounded.     Confed.  500  killed  and  wounded. 

19  to  22— Cassville,  Ga.     Twentieth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Hooker.      Union  10 

killed,  46  wounded. 

21— Mt.  Pleasant,  Miss.     4th  Mo.  Cav.      Union  2  killed,  1  woundc-l. 
23  to  27 — Xorth  Anna  River.  Jericho   Ford  or  Taylor's   Bridge  and   Talo- 

potomy  Creek,   Va.      Second,   Fifth  and    Xinth   Corps,   Army   of   the 

Potomac,  Maj.-Gen.   Meade.      Union  223  killed,   1,460  wounded,  290 

missing.      Confed.  2,000  killed  and  wounded. 
24 — Holly  Springs,   Miss.      4th  Mo.  Cav.      Union   1  killed,  2  wounded 

Wilson's  Wharf,  Va.      10th  U.  S.  Colored,  1st  D.  C.  Cavalry,  Battery  B 

U.  S.  Colored  Artil.      Union  2  killed,  24  wounded.      Confed.  20  killed, 

100  wounded. 
Nashville,  Tenn.      15th  U.  S.  Colored.      Union  4  killed,  8  wounded. 

25  to  June  4 — Dallas.  Ga.,  also  called  Xew  Hope  Church  and  Allatoona  IIIlls. 

Fourth,  Fourteenth,  Twentieth  and  Cavalry  Corps,  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  Maj.-Gen.  Thomas;  Twenty-third  Corps,  Maj.-Gcn. 
Schofield;  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Corps  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  Maj.-Gen.  McPherson — Army  of  the  Mississippi,  Maj.- 
Gen.  Sherman.  Union  2,400  killed,  wounded  and  missing.  Confed, 
3,000  killed,  wounded  and  missing.  Confed.  Maj.-Gen.  Walker  killed. 

25— Cassville  Station,  Ga.  1st  and  llth  Ky.  Cav.  Union  8  killed.  16 
wounded.  Confed.  2  killed,  6  wounded. 

26 — Torpedo  explosion  on  Bachelor's  Creek,  X.  C.  132d  and  158th  X.  Y., 
58th  Pa.  Union  35  killed,  19  wounded. 

26  to  29  — Decatur  and  Moulton,  Ala.      1st,  3d  and  4th  Ohio  Cav.,  2d  Cavalry 

Division.  Union  4S  killed  and  wounded.  Confed.  60  killed  and 
wounded. 

27  and   28 — -Hanoverton,    Hawe's   Shop   and   Salem    Church,    Va.      1st   and 

Second    Divisions    Cavalry    Corps,    Maj.-Gen.    Sheridan.      Union    25 
killed,   119  wounded,  200  missing.      Confed.  475  killed,  wounded  and 
missing. 
30— Hanover  and   Ashland,   Va.      Wilson's   Cavalry.      Union  26  killed,    130 

wounded. 
Old  Church,  Va.      Torbett's  Cavalry.      Union  16  killed,  74  wounded. 

JUNE,  1864 

1  to  12— Cold  Harbor,  Va.,  including  Gaines's  Mills,  Salem  Church  and 
Hawe's  Shop.  Second,  Fifth,  Sixth,  Xinth  and  Eighteenth  Corps 
and  Sheridan's  Cavalry.  Union  1,905  killed.  10,570  wounded,  2,450 
missing.  Confed.  1 ,200  killed  and  wounded,  500  missing.  Union 
Brig. -Gens.  Brookes  and  Byrnes  killed  and  Tyler.  Stannard  ami 
Johnson  wounded.  Confed.  Brig. -Gens.  Doles  and  Keitt  killed  and 
Kirkland,  Finnegan,  Law  and  Lane  wounded. 
(( 'ontinued  in  Section  1 2) 


HB  * 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


353 


DR. MURRAY'S  HOUSE 
NEAR  /\UBURN, 


PONTOON  BRIDOF  »,'.ROS?  POTOMAI"  RIVER 
AT  BERLIN. 


OFFICERS  or  HORSE  ARTILLERY 
CULPEPPER.  SEpr.  1863, 


HEADyUARTERS   OF   THE    ARMY    OF    THE    POTOMAC,    SEPTEMBER,    1863 


354 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHAPTER  XXL— Continued. 

GRANT  had  also  captured  forty  pieces  of  artillery  and  about  seven  thousand  small  arms.     In  a 
letter  to  the  victorious  general,  the  President  thanked  him  and  his  men  for  their  skill  and  bravery 
in  securing  "a  lodgment  at  Chattanooga  and  Knoxville."     Congress  voted  thanks  and  a  gold  medal  for 
Grant,  and  directed  the  President  of  the  Republic  to  cause  the  latter  to  be  struck,  "with  suitable  emblems, 

devices,  and  inscrip 
tions."  The  general 
was  the  recipient  of 
other  tokens  of  re 
gard,  of  various 
kinds ;  and  the  legis 
latures  of  New  York 
and  Ohio  voted  him 
thanks  in  the  name 
of  the  people  of 
those  great  States. 

During  the  first 
half  of  1863,  General 
J.  G.  Foster  was  in 
command  of  the  Na 
tional  troops  in 
North  Carolina, with 
his  headquarters  at 
New'  Berne,  from 
which  point  he  sent 
out  raiding  parties 
to  scatter  Confed 
erate  forces  who 
were  gathering  here 
and  there  to  recover 
lost  posts  in  that 
State.  In  these  ex 
peditions,  m  a  n  y 
sharp  skirmishes 
took  place.  The 
Nationals  were  gen 
erally  successful, and 
confined  their  an 
tagonists  to  the  in 
terior  of  the  State. 
Finally,  in  July 
(1863),  Foster  was 
called  to  the  com 
mand  at  Fortress 

Monroe,  and  left  his  troops  in  charge  of  General  Palmer.  Meanwhile  there  had  been  important  occur 
rences  in  the  vicinity  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  the  capture  of  that  city  being  one  objective  of  the 
National  Government.  Attempts  had  been  made  the  previous  year  by  General  David  Hunter  (com 
manding  the  Department  of  the  South)  and  Admiral  Dupont,  to  seize  that  city,  but  failed.  Dupont 
had  received  important  information  concerning  military  affairs  at  Charleston,  from  Robert  Small,  a 
slave,  who  was  a  pilot  in  the  Confederate  service.  One  night,  in  the  middle  of  May  (1862),  assisted 
by  some  fellow-bondsmen,  Small  took  the  Confederate  steamer  Planter  out  of  Charleston  harbor,  delivered 
her  to  Dupont,  gave  him  valuable  information,  and  entered  the  service  of  the  Republic.  Soon  afterward 
the  National  land  troops  took  a  position  on  James  Island,  near  Charleston;  and  at  Secessionville, 

Copyright,  1895,  by  CHARLES  F.  JOHNSON.     Copyright,  1905,  by  LOSSING  HISTORY  COMPANY.      Copyright,  1912,  by  THE  WAR  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION.  INC. 


MAP  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD  OF  GETTYSBURG 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


355 


CULPEPPER,  VIRGINIA 


VIEWS    AT    MURFREESBORO    AND   JOHNSONVILLE 


356 


HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


General  Benham,  with  a  small  force,  fought  the  Confederates  at  the  middle  of  June,  and  was  defeated. 
Further  attempts  to  capture  Charleston  were  then  suspended. 

Hunter  was  succeeded  in  the  command  of  the  department  by  General  O.  M.  Mitchel,  who,  as  we 
have  observed,  was  called  to  Washington  from  Tennessee,  where  he  chafed  under  Buell's  command.  He 
reached  Hilton  Head  on  the  i6th  of  September,  and  with  his  usual  vigor  he  devised  plans  and  prepared 
to  execute  them  for  the  public  good.  Hilton  Head  Island  was  swarming  with  refugee  slaves,  and  he  at 
once  took  measures  for  their  relief,  laying  out  a  village,  causing  neat  and  comfortable  log-houses  to  be 
built  for  their  residences,  and  finding  employment  for  (.hem.  He  was  preparing  to  use  his  military  force 
with  vigor  in  his  department;  but  before  his  arrangements  were  completed,  he  was  smitten  with  a  disease 
similar  to  the  yellow  fever,  when  he  was  conveyed  to  the  more  healthy  locality  of  Beaufort,  where  he 

died  on  the  ,}oth  of  October.  From  that  time,  until  the  spring  of 
1864,  very  little  of  importance  occurred  in  the  Department  of  the 
South,  of  which  Hunter  again  became  the  commander. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Efforts  to  Capture  Charleston — "The  Swamp  Angel" — Siege  of  Fort  Wagner — 
Sumtcr  in  Ruins — Events  West  of  the  Mississippi — Invasion  of  Missouri — 
Lawrence  Sacked — Events  in  Arkansas  and  in  the  Indian  Territory — Raid 
into  Missouri — Struggle  for  Louisiana — Grant  in  New  Orleans — Designs 
against  Texas — Forrest  in  Tennessee — Strength  of  the  Nationals  and  Confed 
erates  Compared — High-Handed  Measures — The  British  and  the  Confed 
erates — Good  Signs — Grant  Lieutenant-General — Campaign  of  1864 — Sher 
man's  Raid  in  Mississippi — Massacre  at  Fort  Pillow — Forrest's  Exploits — • 
Red  River  Expedition — The  Expedition  Abandoned — Negro  Troops. 

ALTHOUGH   Charleston  had  become  a  comparatively  un 
important  point  in  the  grand  theatre  of  the,  war,  its  posses 
sion  was  coveted  by  the  National  Government  because  of 
the  salutary  moral  effect  which  such  conquest  would  produce.    A 
strong  effort  to  accomplish  that  purpose  was  made  in  the  spring 
of  1863.     On  the  6th  of  April,  Admiral  Dupont  crossed  Charles 
ton  Bar  with  nine  "monitor"  or  turreted  iron  vessels,  leaving 
five  gunboats  outside  as  a  reserve,  and  proceeded  to  attack  Fort 

Sumter,  the  most  formidable  obstacle  in  his  way  to  the  city.  At  the  same  time  a  co-operating  force  of 
land  troops,  four  thousand  strong,  under  General  Truman  Seymour,  took  a  masked  position  on  Folly 
Island.  As  Dupont  approached,  the  cannon  of  the  Confederates  on  Sumter  and  the  adjacent  batteries 
were  silent  until  the  vessels  were  entangled  in  an  unsuspected  network  of  torpedoes  and  other  obstructions, 
when  nearly  three  hundred  guns  opened  a  concentric  fire  upon  the  fleet,  driving  them  back  to  the  ocean 
and  destroying  the  Kcokuk,  one  of  the  smallest  of  the  iron-clads.  The  land  troops  could  do  nothing 
until  Fort  Sumter  was  reduced,  and  the  enterprise  was  a  failure. 

In  June  following,  General  Quincey  A.  Gillmore  succeeded  General  Hunter  in  the  command  of  the 
Southern  Department.  He  found  himself  at  the  head  of  eighteen  thousand  men,  with  a  generous  supply 
of  ordnance,  small  arms,  and  stores.  An  expedition  against  Charleston,  by  land  and  water,  was  imme 
diately  planned.  Gillmore  determined  to  seize  Morris  Island,  on  which  was  strong  Fort  Wagner  that 
commanded  Fort  Sumter.  That  island  and  its  military  works  in  his  possession,  he  might  batter  down 
Fort  Sumter  with  heavy  siege  guns,  and  lay  Charleston  in  ashes  with  his  shells,  if  it  was  not  surrendered. 
Dupont  did  not  approve  the  plan ;  and  early  in  July,  Admiral  John  A.  Dahlgren  took  his  place.  General 
Alfred  H.  Terry  was  sent  with  a  force  to  James  Island  to  mask  Gillmore's  intentions,  when  National 
troops  were  suddenly  landed  on  Morris  Island,  and,  with  the  aid  of  batteries  on  Folly  Island,  they  drove 
the  Confederates  into  Fort  Wagner.  Then  Gillmore  planted  a  line  of  batteries  across  Morris  Island  to 
confront  that  fort,  which  he  found  to  be  much  stronger  than  he  suspected.  The  Nationals  assaulted  it 
(July  n)  and  were  repulsed,  when  a  simultaneous  bombardment  by  sea  and  land  was  determined  on. 
This  was  done  on  the  iSth  of  July,  when  a  hundred  great  guns  opened  on  the  fort  from  the  ships  and  the 
land-batteries.  Meanwhile  General  Terry  had  been  attacked  by  a  force  sent  from  Charleston,  by  Beaure- 
gard,  to  surprise  him.  But  the  vigilance  of  Terry  never  slept,  and  the  Confederates  were  easily  repulsed. 
The  Nationals  were  then  withdrawn  from  James  Island  and  joined  the  main  body  of  troops  on  Morris 
Island. 

At  sunset  on  the  iSth,  Gillmore's  forces  moved  in  two  columns,  to  attack  Fort  Wagner.     A  violent 


GENERAL  GEORGE  G.  MEADE 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


357 


S? 

B 


B 

PI 


.1     HISTORY    OF    T1IK    CIVIL     WAR 


GENERAL    PlIII,    SlIKRIDAN 


thunder-storm  was  raging.  One  column  was  led  by  General  Strong,  the  other  by  Colonel  II.  L.  Putnam, 
acting  as  brigadier.  The  simple  was  brief  but  fearful.  Both  columns  of  the  Nationals  were  repulsed, 
\vith  great  slaughter  in  their  ranks,  losing,  in  the  aggregate,  full  fifteen  hundred  men.  Strong  and  Putnam 

were  mortally  wounded;  and  Colonel  Robert  (i.  Shaw,  who  was  at  the 
head  of  the  first  regiment  of  colored  troops  organized  in  the  free-labor 
States,  was  instantly  killed.  Because  he  commanded  colored  troops, 
Shaw  was  intensely  hated  by  the  Confederates;  and  they  foolishly 
thought  they  had  dishonored  him  when,  as  they  proclaimed,  they  had 
buried  his  body  "in  a  pit  under  a  heap  of  his  niggers." 

Gillmore  now  abandoned  the  plan  for  capturing  Fort  Wagner  In 
direct  assault,  and  began  a  regular  siege.  With  infinite  labor  a  battery 
was  constructed  in  a  morass  half-way  between  Morris  and  James  islands, 
upon  a  platform  of  heavy  timbers  standing  in  the  deep  black  mud. 
When  a  lieutenant  of  engineers  was  ordered  to  construct  it  he  said,  "It 
is  impossible."  His  commanding  officer  replied,  "There  is  no  such  word 
as  impossible;  call  for  what  you  need."  The  lieutenant,  who  was  a  wag, 
made  a  requisition  on  the  quartermaster  for  "one  hundred  men  eighteen 
feet  high  to  wade  in  mud  sixteen  feet  deep";  and  he  gravely  inquired 
of  the  engineer  whether  these  men  might  be  spliced,  if  required.  The 
lieutenant  was  arrested  for  contempt,  but  was  soon  released,  and  he  built 
a  redout  >1  with  the  services  of  men  of  ordinary  height.  Upon  the  redoubt 
was  erected  a  Parrott  gun,  which  they  called  "The  Swamp  Angel,"  that 
sent  shells  into  Charleston,  five  miles  distant.  One  of  these  entered  St. 

Michael's  Church  near  the  roof,  and  destroyed  the  tablet  on  the  wall  that  contained  the  ten  command 
ments,  obliterating  all  of  them  excepting  two — "Thou  shalt  not  kill.  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery." 
General  Gillmore  was  ready  for  another  attack  on  Forts  Wagner  and  Sumter  on  the  lyth  of  August, 
and  on  that  day  the  guns  of  twelve  batteries  and  of  the  fleet  opened  upon  them.  Before  night  the  granite 
walls  of  Fort  Sumter  began  to  crumble  and  its  cannons  ceased  to  roar,  under  the  pressure  of  Dahlgren's 
guns.  The  land  troops  pushed  their  parallels  nearer  and  nearer  Fort  Wagner;  while  the  fleet  guns 
continually  pounded  away,  day  after  day,  until  the  Oth  of  September,  when  General  Terry  was  prepared 
to  storm  the  latter  work.  Then  it  was  ascertained  that  the  Confederates  had  evacuated  it  and  fled  from 
Morris  Island.  Gillmore  took  possession  of  Fort  Wagner  and  turned  its  guns  on  Fort  Sumter,  battering 
it  dreadfully  and  driving  away  (it  was  supposed)  its  garrison.  But  that  sentinel,  which  had  so  long  guarded 
the  gate  to  Charleston  harbor,  only  slumbered;  and  when,  on  the  night  of  the  8th,  an  armed  force  from 
the  ships,  in  small  boats,  attempted  to  take  possession  of  it,  a  vigilant  garrison  that  had  been  lying  quietly 
there,  suddenly  arose  and  repulsed  the  assailants  with  great  loss  to  the  latter.  Finally,  late  in  October 
(i8(),0,  Gillmore  brought  his  heaviest  guns  to  bear  on  Sumter,  and  reduced  the  once  proud  fort  to  a  heap 
of  ruins.  Charleston  now,  as  a  commercial 
mart,  had  no  existence.  For  months  not  a 
blockade-runner  had  entered  its  harbor, 
and  its  wealth  and  trade  had  departed.  In 
a  military  point  of  view,  as  we  have  ob 
served,  it  was  absolutely  of  very  little  im 
portance.  Let  us  leave  the  Atlantic  coast, 
and  consider  stirring  events  in  the  interior. 
A  thousand  miles  westward  of  the  sea- 
coast  the  war  was  still  going  on,  but 
more  feebly  than  at  first.  The  Confed 
erates  reoccupied  all  Texas  in  i86,<,  and 
carried  on  a  sort  of  guerrilla  warfare  in 
Arkansas  and  Missouri  during  a  part  of 
that  year.  In  the  earlier  months,  Marma- 
duke  was  active  with  his  mounted  men. 
He  rushed  over  the  border  from  Arkansas 
into  Missouri,  and  fell  upon  Springfield  in 
January,  but  was  repulsed  with  a  loss  of 
two  hundred  men.  After  some  other 


TROOPS  BUILDING  BKIIX'.E  ACROSS  NORTH  FORK  OF  RAPPAHANNOCK  RIVER 


HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


359 


BODIES  OF  DEAD   COLLECTED    FOR  BURIAL,  M5  PHERSONS  WOOD'S, 


DEAD 
CONFEDERATE 

6HARPSHOOTERS 

HOODS  DIVISION; 


BODIES  OF  DEAD,  BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG 


360 


.1    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


reverses,  he  fell  back;  and  at  Little  Rock,  the  capital  of  Arkansas,  he  planned  a  formidable  raid  into 
Missouri,  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  seizing  National  stores  at  Cape  Girardeau,  on  the  Mississippi.  He 
invaded  the  State  with  eight  thousand  men,  and  was  met  at  the  Cape  by  General  McNeil,  on  the  2oth  of 
April,  who,  after  a  sharp  engagement,  drove  Marmaduke  out  of  Missouri.  Other  bands  of  Confederates, 
under  various  leaders,  roamed  over  the  western  borders  of  Arkansas,  and,  at  one  time,  seriously  menaced 
Fort  Blunt,  in  the  Indian  Territory.  There  was  a  sharp  engagement  at  Honey  Springs,  in  that  Territory, 
on  the  i  yth  of  July,  between  Nationals  under  General  Blunt  and  Confederates  in  strong  force  led  by 
General  Cooper,  in  which  the  latter  were  defeated,  and  a  part  of  them  fled  into  northern  Texas.  Guerrilla 
bands  in  Blunt's  rear  did  much  mischief.  One  of  them,  led  by  a  white  savage  named  Quantrell,  fell  upon 
the  defenceless  town  of  Lawrence,  in  Kansas,  on  the  i^th  of  August,  and  murdered  one  hundred  and  forty 
of  the  inhabitants.  They  also  laid  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  buildings  in  ashes,  and  escaped. 

Earlier  than  this,  the  strongly  fortified  post  of  Helena,  on  the  Mississippi,  in  eastern  Arkansas,  became 

a  coveted  object;  and  on  the  3d  of 
July  (1863)  eight  thousand  Con 
federates,  under  General  Price  and 
others,  ignorant  of  the  strength  of 
the  post,  attacked  it.  General 
Steele  was  in  command  there. 
After  a  sharp  fight,  the  Confed 
erates  were  repulsed  with  a  loss  of 
twenty  per  cent,  of  their  number. 
That  section  of  Arkansas  was  then 
abandoned  by  the  Confederates; 
and  on  the  loth  of  August,  Steele 
left  Helena  with  twelve  thousand 
troops  and  forty  pieces  of  cannon, 
to  attempt  the  capture  of  Little 
Rock.  He  pushed  back  Marma 
duke,  who  confronted  him;  and 
early  in  September  he  moved  on 
the  State  capital  in  two  columns, 
one  on  each  side  of  the  Arkansas 
River.  The  Confederates  there, 
after  setting  fire  to  several  steam- 
GROUP  OF  CONFEDERATE  GENERALS  boatSj  abandoned  the  place  on  the 

evening  of  the  loth  (September)  and  fled  to  Arkadelphia,  on  the  Wachita  River.  Meanwhile  General 
Blunt  had  been  trying  to  bring  the  Confederates  and  their  Indian  allies  in  western  Arkansas  to  battle, 
but  had  failed.  He  took  possession  of  Fort  Smith  (September  i)  and  garrisoned  it;  and  on  the  4th  of 
October,  while  he  was  on  his  way  from  Kansas  to  that  post  with  an  escort  of  one  hundred  cavalry,  they 
were  attacked  near  Baxter's  Springs,  on  the  Cherokee  Reservation,  and  scattered,  by  six  hundred  guerrillas 
led  by  the  notorious  Quantrell,  who  plundered  and  burnt  the  accompanying  train  of  the  Nationals. 
Blunt's  forces  were  nearly  all  killed  or  disabled  in  the  conflict.  The  wounded  were  murdered;  and  Blunt 
and  only  about  a  dozen  followers  barely  escaped,  with  their  lives,  to  Little  Fort  Blair.  Some  of  Blunt's 
escort  fled,  at  first,  without  firing  a  shot.  Had  they  acted  more  bravely,  they  could  have  driven  off  their 
assailants  in  ten  minutes,  Blunt  declared. 

Finding  their  supplies  nearly  exhausted,  the  Confederates  in  that  region  made  a  raid  into  Missouri 
as  far  as  Booneville,  at  the  close  of  September;  but  they  were  driven  back  into  Arkansas  by  Generals 
E.  B.  Brown  and  McNeil.  No  other  military  movements  of  much  importance  occurred  in  Missouri  and 
Arkansas  for  some  time  after  this,  excepting  an  attack  made  by  Marmaduke  upon  Pine  Bluff,  on  the 
Arkansas  River,  on  the  25th  of  October,  1863.  The  little  garrison  there  was  commanded  by  Colonel 
Powell  Clayton,  and  these,  with  the  assistance  of  two  hundred  negroes  in  making  barricades,  fought  the 
assailants  (who  were  two  thousand  strong,  with  twelve  pieces  of  artillery)  for  several  hours,  and  drove 
them  away.  Quiet  prevailed  for  some  time  afterward. 

When  General  Banks  left  Alexandria,  on  the  Red  River,  and  marched  to  the  siege  of  Port  Hudson, 
General  Taylor,  whom  he  had  driven  into  the  wilds  of  western  Louisiana,  returned,  occupied  that 
abandoned  city  and  Opclousas,  and  garrisoned  Fort  de  Russy.  Then  he  swept  vigorously  over  the  country 
in  the  direction  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  New  Orleans.  With  a  part  of  his  command  he  captured 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     IV  A  R 


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SCENES  IN  AND  ABOUT  CHATTANOOGA,  TENN. 


362 


HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


Brashear  City  on  the  24th  of  June  (1863),  with  an  immense  amount  of  public  property,  and  made  a 
thousand  National  troops  prisoners.  At  about  the  same  time  another  portion  of  the  Confederates,  under 
General  Green,  operating  in  the  vicinity  of  Donaldsonville,  on  the  Mississippi,  were  driven  out  of  the 
district.  Finally,  at  the  middle  of  July,  when  Banks's  troops  were  released,  on  the  fall  of  Port  Hudson, 
they  expelled  Taylor  and  his  forces  from  the  country  eastward  of  the  Atchafalaya.  This  was  the  last 
struggle  of  Taylor's  forces  to  gain  a  foothold  on  the  Mississippi. 

General  Banks  now  turned  his  thoughts  to  aggressive  movements.  General  Grant  visited  him  at 
New  Orleans  early  in  September,  and  was  in  that  city  when  he  was  summoned  to  Chattanooga.  There 
it  was  determined  that  Banks  should  make  an  attempt  to  recover  Texas;  and  he  speedily  sent  four 


MAJOR-GENERAL  X.  P.  BANKS  AND  STAFF 

thousand  troops  under  General  Franklin,  accompanied  by  four  gunboats  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Crocker,  to  seize  the  Confederate  post  at  Sabine  Pass,  on  the  boundary  line  between  Louisiana  and  Texas. 
Owing  to  a  premature  attack  by  the  gunboats,  the  expedition  was  a  disastrous  failure.  Then  Banks 
concentrated  his  land  forces  on  the  Atchafalaya,  for  the  purpose  of  penetrating  Texas  from  the  east  by 
way  of  Shreveport,  on  the  Red  River;  but  this  design  was  abandoned  for  a  time,  and  it  was  concluded 
to  attempt  to  seize  and  hold  the  coast  harbor  of  that  Commonwealth.  To  mask  this  movement,  General 
C.  C.  Washburne,  with  a  considerable  body  of  troops,  moved  across  Louisiana  toward  Alexandria,  when 
about  six  thousand  other  Nationals  under  General  Dana,  with  some  war-vessels,  sailed  for  the  Rio  Grande. 
The  troops  landed,  and  drove  Confederate  cavalry  up  that  river.  The  Nationals  pressed  on;  and  on 
the  6th  of  November  encamped  at  Brownsville,  opposite  Matamoras.  At  the  close  of  the  year,  the 
National  troops  occupied  all  the  strong  positions  on  the  Texan  coast  excepting  Galveston  Island  and  a 
formidable  work  near  the  mouth  of  the  Brazos;  and  the  Confederates  had  abandoned  all  Texas  west 
of  the  Colorado  River.  Meanwhile  N.  B.  Forrest,  who  had  become  a  noted  guerrilla  chief,  had  broken 
into  western  Tennessee,  from  Mississippi,  with  four  thousand  Confederate  soldiers,  and  making  Jackson, 
in  the  first-mentioned  State,  his  headquarters  (December,  1863),  had  sent  out  foraging  parties  in  various 
directions.  General  Hurlburt,  at  Memphis,  tried  to  catch  him,  but  failed. 

There  were  many  hopeful  signs  of  success  for  the  defenders  of  the  life  of  the  Republic  at  the  opening 
of  the  third  year  of  the  Civil  War,  1864.  The  debt  of  the  National  Government  was  then  more  than 
$1,000,000,000;  but  the  public  credit  never  stood  higher.  The  loyal  people  stood  by  the  Government, 
and  trusted  it  with  a  fidelity  and  faith  that  was  truly  sublime.  At  the  same  time  the  Confederate  debt 
was  at  least  $1,000,000,000,  with  a  prospective  increase  during  the  year  to  double  that  amount.  The 
Confederate  Government  had  contracted  loans  abroad  to  the  amount  almost  of  $15,000,000,  of  which 
sum  the  members  of  the  Southern  Independence  Association  in  England  (composed  chiefly  of  the  British 
aristocracy)  loaned  a  large  share  and  lost  it,  the  security  offered  for  the  Confederate  bonds  being  cotton 
to  be  forwarded,  and  which  was  never  delivered.  The  producers  of  the  Confederacy,  better  informed 
than  their  English  sympathizers,  were  unwilling  to  trust  the  promise  of  their  government  and  withheld 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


363 


SCENE  ON  THE  ORANGE  AND  ALEXANDRIA  RAILROAD  NEAR  UNION  MILLS,  TENN. 


BATTLEFIELD  OF  CHICKAMAUGA,  UNION  MILLS,  TENN. 


364 


HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  SEDGWICK 

COLONEL  SACKETT 

COLONEL  COLBURN 

AT  HARRISON'S  LANDING 


supplies,  for  they  preconceived  the  worthlessness  of  the  bonds  and  paper  currency  of  the  Confederates. 
The  people  there  were  no  longer  willing  to  volunteer  for  the  military  service ;  and  Davis  and  his  associates 
at  Richmond,  in  their  desperation,  proceeded  to  the  exercise  of  a  despotic  act  that  has  no  parallel  in  the 
history  of  civilized  nations.  By  the  passage  of  a  law  they  declared  that  every  white  man  in  the  Confederacy, 

liable  to  bear  arms,  to  be  in  the  military  service;  and  that,  upon 
his  failure  to  report  for  duty  at  a  military  station  within  a  certain 
time,  he  was  liable  to  the  penalty  of  death  as  a  deserter!  They 
devised  schemes  of  retaliation;  also  cruel  measures  toward 
the  colored  troops  in  the  National  service  and  their  white  com 
manders,  were  proposed.  They  refused  to  regard  captive 
negro  troops  as  prisoners  of  war;  and  by  threats  of  dire 
vengeance,  they  tried  to  deter  the  colored  men  from  enlisting 

in  the  National  service. 

While  the  authorities  at  Rich 
mond  were  preparing  to  carry  out 
these  measures,  they  received  a 
despatch  from  Lord  John  Russell, 

«fc—      .  fif~:  €3          fl^-.*-  the  British  Foreign  Secretary, 

KaLdPKT:    H.  which  deprived  them  of  the  last 

prop  of  hope  for  the  recognition  of 
the  independence  of  the  Confed 
erate  States  from  any  foreign  State 
excepting  that  of  the  Roman  Pon 
tiff.  That  despatch  gave  them 
notice  that  no  more  vessels  should 
be  fitted  out  in  Great  Britain  (nor 
tolerated  in  British  waters),  for 
depredating  on  the  commerce  of 
GROUP  OF  OFFICERS  OF  THE  IRISH  BRIGADE  the  United  States  by  persons  em 

ployed  by  the  "so-called  Confed 
erate  States."  The  last  expression,  which  absolutely  ignored  the  very  existence  of  the  "Confederate 
States"  was  very  significant,  and  also  very  offensive  to  Davis  and  his  associates.  The  latter  replied 
sharply,  protesting  against  the  "studied  insult;"  and  thenceforward  the  Confederates  regarded  the 
British  government  as  their  enemy.  That  government,  perceiving  the  weakness  of  the  Confederacy  which 
it  had  tried  to  foster,  stood  firm,  and  so  did  our  own.  Regardless  of  the  menaces  of  the  Confederate 
leaders,  the  President  determined  to  defend  the  colored  troops  against  the  vengeance  of  their  late  masters, 
and  to  prosecute  the  war  with  greater  vigor.  "The  signs,"  he  said,  "look  better."  More  than  fifty 
thousand  square  miles  of  territory  had  already  been  recovered  from  the  Confederates.  There  were  about 
eight  hundred  thousand  National  troops  in  the  field,  while  the  Confederates  had  only  about  half  that 
number;  and  the  former  were  disposed  to  act  on  the  offensive,  while  the  latter  were  generally  standing 
on  the  defensive. 

Early  in  1864,  Congress  created  the  office  of  lieutenant-general.  The  President  nominated  Ulysses 
S.  Grant  to  fill  it,  and  the  Senate  confirmed  the  nomination.  Grant  was  made  general-in-chief  of  the 
armies  of  the  Republic,  and  he  fixed  his  headquarters  with  that  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  believed 
that  mercy  required  that  war  should  be  made  sharp  and  decisive,  so  as  to  end  it  speedily,  and  he  acted 
accordingly.  He  believed  his  government  to  be  right  and  its  assailants  wrong;  and  with  all  the  zeal 
born  of  positive  convictions,  he  prepared  for  the  campaign  of  1864.  Two  grand  expeditions  were  planned 
—one  for  the  capture  of  Richmond,  the  other  for  the  seizure  of  the  great  railroad  centre,  Atlanta,  in 
Georgia.  To  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  commanded  by  General  Meade,  was  assigned  the  task  of  taking 
Richmond;  and  to  General  Sherman  was  given  the  command  of  the  forces  destined  for  Atlanta.  Mean 
while  important  events  had  occurred  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

When  General  Sherman  was  called  to  Chattanooga,  he  left  General  J.  B.  McPherson  in  command 
at  Vicksburg;  but  soon  after  Bragg  was  driven  southward  from  Chattanooga,  Sherman  suddenly  reap 
peared  in  Mississippi;  and  at  the  head  of  twenty  thousand  troops,  he  made  a  most  destructive  raid 
(February,  1864)  from  Jackson  to  the  intersection  of  important  railways  at  Meridian,  in  that  State.  His 
object  was  to  inflict  as  much  injury  as  possible  upon  the  Confederate  cause  and  its  physical  strength. 
Like  Grant,  he  believed  in  the  righteousness  and  efficacy  of  making  war  terrible.  The  line  of  his  march 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


365 


366 


HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  TRTEMAN  SEY.MOIK 


from  Jackson,  eastward,  presented  a  black  path  of  desolation.  No  public  property  of  the  Confederates 
was  spared.  The  station-houses  and  the  rolling  stock  of  the  railway  were  burned.  The  track  was  torn 
up,  and  the  rails,  heated  by  the  burning  ties  cast  into  heaps,  were  twisted  and  ruined;  and  were  often,  by 

bending  them,  while  red-hot,  around  a  sapling,  converted  into  what  the 
men  called  "Jeff.  Davis's  neckties."  General  Sherman  intended  to  push 
on  to  Montgomery,  Alabama,  and  then,  if  circumstances  appeared  favor 
able,  to  go  southward  and  attack  Mobile. 

At  Meridian,  General  Sherman  waited  for  General  W.  S.  Smith  to 
join  him  with  a  considerable  force  of  cavalry;  but  that  officer  was  held 
back  by  Forrest  and  others.  After  waiting  in  vain  for  a  week,  Sherman 
laid  Meridian  in  ashes  and  returned  to  Vicksburg  with  four  hundred 
prisoners  and  five  thousand  liberated  slaves.  This  raid  spread  great 
alarm  over  the  Confederacy;  for  General  (Bishop)  Polk,  in  command  of 
the.  insurgents  in  that  region,  made  but  a  feeble  resistance.  General 
Joseph  E.  Johnston,  in  command  of  Bragg's  army  in  northern  Georgia, 
had  sent  troops  to  reinforce  Polk ;  but  was  compelled  to  recall  them  when 
his  own  army  was  menaced  by  a  National  force  under  General  Palmer, 
which  had  been  sent  down  from  Chattanooga.  Johnston  fought  Palmer 
between  Ringgold  and  Dalton  (February,  1864),  and  drove  him  back 
to  Chattanooga. 

Some  weeks  later,  General  Forrest,  having  an  enlarged  command, 
made  a  rapid  raid  through  Tennessee  and  Kentucky;  and  on  the  i3th  of 
April  he  laid  siege  to  Fort  Pillow,  on  the  Mississippi,  above  Memphis,  which  was  garrisoned  chiefly  by 
colored  troops.  He  assailed  it  successfully,  with  a  cry  of  "No  quarter";  and  when  the  garrison  threw 
down  their  arms  and  begged  for  mercy,  they  were  nearly  all  slaughtered.  "Forrest's  motto,"  said  Major 
Charles  W.  Gibson,  of  his  command,  to  the  writer,  was,  "War  means  fight,  and  fight  means  kill — we  want 
but  few  prisoners."  An  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  to  intercept  him  in  his  retreat  from  the  scene  of 
the  massacre.  Troops  sent  out  from  Memphis,  a  few  weeks  later,  by  General  Smith,  to  hunt  him  up  and 
beat  him,  in  Mississippi,  were  defeated  in  a  severe  battle  with  him  on  the  zoth  of  June,  at  Gun  Town,  on 
the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railway,  and  were  driven  back  with  great  loss.  Twelve  thousand  men,  led  by 
General  A.  J.  Smith,  went  out  for  the  same  purpose,  and  fought  and  defeated  Forrest  near  Tupelo  on  the 
1 4th  of  June,  and  then  retreated  to  Memphis;  and  not  long  afterward,  when  Smith  was  in  Mississippi 
with  ten  thousand  men,  the  bold  raider,  at  the  head  of  three  thousand  cavalry,  flanked  him,  dashed  into 
Memphis  in  broad  daylight,  in  search  of  National  officers,  and  escaped  into  Mississippi. 

At  the  beginning  of  1864,  another  attempt  was  made  to  recover  Texas,  by  an  invasion  by  way  of  the 
Red  River  and  Shreveport.  General  Banks  was  ordered  to  organize  an  expedition  for  the  purpose,  and 
General  Sherman  was  directed  to  send  troops  to  aid  him.  Admiral  Porter  was  also  directed  to  place  a  fleet 
of  gunboats  on  the  Red  River  to  assist  in  the  enterprise;  and  General  Steele,  at  Little  Rock,  Arkansas, 
was  ordered  to  co-operate  with  the  expedition.  Banks's  column,  led  by  General  Franklin,  moved  from 
Brashear  City  by  way  of  Opelousas,  and  reached  Alexandria  on  the  26th  of  March.  The  detachment 
from  Sherman's  army,  led  by  Gen 
eral  A.  J.  Smith,  had  already  gone 
up  the  Red  River  in  transports, 
captured  Fort  de  Russy,  and  taken 
possession  of  Alexandria  on  the 
1 6th  of  March,  followed  by  Porter's 
fleet  of  gunboats. 

Banks  moved  forward  with  his 
whole  force;  and  early  in  April  the 
army  was  at  Natchitoches,  eighty 
miles  further  up  the  river,  at  which 
point  Porter's  vessels  arrived,  after 
encountering  much  difficulty  in 
passing  the  rapids  at  Alexandria  on 
account  of  low  water.  His  larger 
gunboats  could  proceed  no  further 
than  Grand  Ecore.  Banks  pushed 


GENERAL  ROBERT  S.  FOSTER  AND  STAFF 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


367 


BRIDGE  OVER  THE  CUMBERLAND  RIVER  AT  CHATTANOOGA 


CHATTANOOGA,  TENN.,  IN  1864 


368 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  STIRLING  PRICE,  C.  S.  A. 


on  toward  Shrevcport,  and  Porter's  lighter  vessels  went  up  the  river  with  a  body  of  troops  under 
E.  Kirby  Smith.  The  Confederates  had  been  gathering  force  under  (ienerals  Taylor,  Price  and  Green, 
and  were  driven  before  the  Nationals  until  they  reached  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  where  they  made  a  stand 
on  the  Sth  of  April.  A  sharp  battle  ensued  between  them  and  the  ad 
vance  of  Banks's  army.  There  was  a  hard  struggle  for  the  mastery. 
Franklin's  troops  came  to  the  aid  of  the  latter  late  in  the  afternoon;  but 
their  antagonists  fought  so  well  and  desperately  that  the  whole  body  of 
the  Nationals  were  routed,  with  heavy  loss,  and  fled  in  some  confusion. 
The  fugitives  were  received  three  miles  from  the  battle-field,  at  a  place 
called  Pleasant  Grove,  by  the  division  of  General  Emory;  and  there 
another  severe  engagement  took  place,  in  which  the  Nationals  were  vic 
torious.  The  latter  fell  back,  however,  fifteen  miles,  pursued  by  the 
Confederates;  and  the  next  day  (April  9)  another  heavy  battle  was  fought 
at  Pleasant  Hill,  which  resulted  in  a  victory  for  Banks.  That  officer  now 
wished  to  renew  the  march  for  Texas ;  but  his  associates  counselled  a  still 
further  retreat  to  the  Red  River,  at  Grand  Ecore,  where  Porter's  larger 
vessels  lay.  There  they  were  joined  by  the  troops  under  E.  Kirby  Smith, 
that  went  up  the  river  in  transports,  and  had  some  sharp  fighting. 

The  river  was  still  falling.  Food  and  water  for  man  and  beast,  in 
that  region,  could  not  be  procured  excepting  with  great  difficulty,  and  it 
was  determined  to  continue  the  retreat  to  Alexandria.  After  much  diffi 
culty  the  fleet  passed  the  bar  at  Grand  Ecore  on  the  i;th  of  April.  The 
army  moved  from  that  point  on  the  2ist,  and  entered  Alexandria  on  the  2jth,  after  an  encounter  with  the 
Confederates  at  the  passage  of  the  Cane  River.  So  many  difficulties  lay  before  the  National  army,  that 
the  expedition  against  Shreveport  was  abandoned,  and  the  land  and  naval  forces  prepared  to  return  to 
the  Mississippi  River. 

A  serious  impediment  to  such  a  movement  now  presented  itself.  The  water  in  the  rapids  of  the  Red 
River  at  Alexandria  was  so  shallow  that  the  fleet  could  not  repass  them.  General  Hunter  had  just  appeared 
at  Alexandria  with  orders  to  close  the  Red  River  campaign  as  speedily  as  possible,  for  the  troops  from 
General  Sherman  were  wanted  eastward  of  the  Mississippi.  The  call  was  urgent.  To  get  the  fleet  below 
the  rapids  was  now  the  first  work  to  be  done.  It  was  proposed  to  dam  the  river  above  the  rapids,  and 
send  the  vessels  over  the  rocks  upon  the  bosom  of  a  flood  that  might  be  set  free  through  sluices.  Porter 
did  not  believe  in  the  feasibility  of  such  a  project.  Banks  did,  and  set  Lieutenant-Colonel  Joseph  Bailey, 
of  a  Michigan  regiment,  to  attempt  it.  By  skill  and  industry  the  work  was  accomplished;  and  every 
gunboat,  great  and  small,  reached  the  deep  water  below  the  rapids  in  safety,  the  crowd  of  spectators  on 
the  shores  greeting  the  achievement  with  loud  huzzas.  The  whole  expedition  now  pushed  toward  the 
Mississippi  River,  where  Porter  resumed  the  service  of  patrolling  that  stream.  General  E.  R.  S.  Canby 
took  command  of  Banks's  forces  on  the  Atchafalaya;  and  General  Smith,  with  his  detachment,  returned 
to  Mississippi.  A  strong  confronting  force  of  Confederates  had  kept  Steele  from  co-operating  with  the 

expedition.  He  had  moved  from  Little  Rock 
with  eight  thousand  men,  pushed  back  the  Con 
federates,  and  on  the  ijth  of  April  captured  the 
important  post  of  Camden  on  the  Wachita  River; 
but  after  a  severe  battle  at  Jenkinson's  Ferry,  on 
the  Sabine  River,  Steele  abandoned  Camden  and 
returned  to  Little  Rock.  So  ended  this  disas 
trous  campaign. 

We  have  observed  that  colored  troops  were 
employed  as  soldiers  in  the  National  service,  and 
that  the  Confederates  were  disposed  to  treat  them 
and  their  white  leaders  with  cruelty.  Let  us  take 
a  hasty  glance  at  the  history  of  their  employment 
in  the  army. 

When    the    President    called    for    troops,    in 
April,  1 86 1,  to  put  down  the  rising  insurrection, 
some  colored  men  in  the  city  of  New  York  hired 
GROUP  OF  CONFEDERATE  GENERALS  a  room  and  began  to  drill  in  military  tactics.     The 


GEN  T.  GREEN 
C-.S.A. 


GEN  E.D.TRACY.  c.s.A. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


309 


VIEWS  ON  LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN* 


370 


.4    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  BRAXTON  BRAGG,  C.  S.  A. 


sympathizers  with  the  insurgents  threatened  them  with  violence;  and  the  Superintendent  of  Police  felt 
compelled,  in  order  to  secure  the  public  peace,  to  order  them  to  cease  drilling.  So  they  waited  until  they 
were  called  for. 

More  than  a  year  afterward,  General  Hunter,  in  command  of  the  Department  of  the  South,  ordered 

the  organization  of  negro  regiments  in  his  department.  This  measure 
raised  a  tempest  of  indignation  in  the  National  Congress  among  the  sym 
pathizers  with  the  insurgents.  On  motion  of  Wickliffe  of  Kentucky,  the 
Secretary  of  War  was  asked  whether  Hunter  had  organized  a  regiment  of 
fugitive  slaves,  and  whether  the  Government  had  authorized  the 
act.  Hunter  was  allowed  to  make  explicit  answers  himself.  To 
the  first  question  he  replied:  "No  regiment  of  'fugitive  slaves'  has 
been  or  is  being  organized  in  this  department.  There  is,  however,  a  fine 
regiment  of  persons  whose  late  masters  are  fugitive  rebels — men  who 
everywhere  fly  before  the  appearance  of  the  National  flag,  leaving  their 
servants  behind  them  to  shift  for  themselves  as  best  they  can."  A  few 
weeks  later,  Secretary  Stanton,  by  special  order,  directed  General  Rufus 
Saxton,  military  governor  of  the  sea-coast  islands,  to  "arm,  uniform, 
equip  and  receive  into  the  service  of  the  United  States,  such  number  of 
volunteers  of  African  descent,  not  exceeding  five  thousand,"  as  would  be 
useful. 

General  G.  W.  Phelps,  in  command  above  New  Orleans,  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1862,  finding  crowds  of  colored  people  flocking  to  his  camp,  asked 
permission  of  General  Butler  to  arm  and  equip  negro  regiments.  Butler 
had  no  authority  to  do  so.  He  recommended  Phelps  to  employ  them  in 

servile  work  on  fortifications.  Phelps  replied:  "I  am  not  willing  to  become  the  slave-driver  you  propose, 
having  no  qualifications  that  way,"  and  throwing  up  his  commission,  returned  to  Vermont.  Soon  afterward 
Butler  called  for  negro  volunteers  from  the  free  colored  men  in  New  Orleans,  and  regiments  were  formed. 
Another  year  passed  by,  and  yet  very  few  of  the  thousands  of  colored  men  made  free  by  the  procla 
mation  of  emancipation  were  found  in  arms.  There  was  a  universal  prejudice  against  them;  but  as  the 
war  went  on  that  prejudice,  like  others,  gave  way,  and  in  the  summer  of  1863  the  President  was  authorized 
by  Congress  to  accept  colored  volunteers.  From  that  time  such  troops  were  freely  enlisted  wherever  the 
Government  authority  prevailed ;  and  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  of  them  fought  in  the  ranks  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Republic,  and  their  own  freedom.  Their  brethren,  who  were  yet  in  bondage,  were 
then  freely  used  by  the  Confederates,  in  the  military  service;  not,  however,  with  arms  in  their  hands. 
The  Confederates  never  armed  them.  It  might  have  been  a  fatal  experiment.  They  were  organized 
under  white  leaders,  and  were  "armed  and  equipped"  with  axes,  shovels,  spades,  pick-axes,  and  blankets. 
The  natural  docility  of  the  negro  made  him  an  excellent  man  to  discipline  for  a  soldier;  and  his 
faithfulness  and  courage  were  never  surpassed,  in  strength  and  endurance,  by  the  white  man's  faith 
fulness  and  courage.  Their  conduct  throughout  the  war  was  most  remarkable.  Their  numbers,  in  some 
of  the  revolted  States,  were  nearly  equal  to  those  of  the  white  people;  and  in  the  absence  of  the  men  of 
the  latter  race,  in  the  army,  the  whole  region  which  they  occupied  was  absolutely  at  their  mercy.  There 
were,  at  first,  apprehensions  that  the  negroes,  perceiving  their  opportunity  and  advantage,  would  rise  in 
insurrection  and  assert  their  right  to  freedom.  On  the  contrary,  they  worked  faithfully  and  patiently  for 
their  masters,  on  the  plantations,  and  there  is  no  record  of  an  attempt,  by  individuals  or  in  numbers,  of 
that  vast  servile  population,  to  gain  their  liberty.  Not  a  woman 
or  child  was  injured  by  their  slaves ;  on  the  contrary,  they  were  the 
trusted  protectors  from  violence,  of  the  wives  and  children  of  the 
Confederate  soldiers.  They  had  faith  that  God  would,  in  his  own 
good  time,  deliver  them  from  bondage;  and  in  that  faith  they 
patiently  waited  and  suffered.  Because  of  their  faithfulness  and 
forbearance,  when  they  might  have  filled  the  land  with  horror,  the 
colored  population  of  the  South  deserve  the  everlasting  gratitude 
and  good-will  of  the  white  people  there,  whose  families  they  pro 
tected  and  by  their  labor  supplied  with  food  and  clothing  during 
the  terrible  Civil  War.  History  furnishes  no  parallel  to  the  noble 
conduct  of  the  negroes  toward  those  who  were  making  war  for  the 
purpose  of  perpetuating  the  slavery  of  their  race. 


MA.I  (iEN.D.M.M  GRE<, 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


PULPIT  ROCK  AND  VIEWS  OF  LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN 


THE  GORGE — LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN 


372 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

Another  Invasion  of  Missouri  and  Its  Results — Morgan  in  East  Tennessee — Morgan  Killed  at  Greenville — Cavalry  Operations  against 
Richmond — Campaign  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  Begun — Battles  in  the  Wilderness  and  near  Spottsylvania  Court-House — 
Sheridan's  Raid— Operations  between  Petersburg  and  Richmond — Kautz's  Raid — Struggles  of  Grant  and  Lee — Battle  at  Cold  Harl  .or 
— The  Nationals  Cross  the  James  and  Invest  Petersburg — Confederate  Invasion  of  Maryland — Salvation  of  Washington — A  Plun 
dering  Raid  to  Chambersburg — Sheridan  in  the  Shcnandoah  Valley — His  Brilliant  Campaign — Richmond  Threatened — Siege  of 
Petersburg — Capture  of  Fort  Harrison — Medal  to  Colored  Troops — Losses — Sherman's  Campaign  in  Georgia. 

THE  Confederates  were  emboldened  by  the  failure  of  the  Red  River  expedition  and  the  expulsion  of 
Steele  from  the  region  below  the  Arkansas  River;    and  raiding  bands  awed  the  Unionists  into 
silence  and  inactivity.     This  state  of  things  gave  Price  an  opportunity  early  in  the  autumn  to 
invade  Missouri  again,  this  time  chiefly  with  a  political  object  in  view.     Secret  societies,  in  sympathy 
with  the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  had  been  formed  in  Missouri  and  neighboring  Southern  States, 
whose  object  was  to  give  aid  to  the  Confederate  cause  and  assist  in  the  election  of  General  McClellan 
(who  had  been  nominated  by  the  Democratic  party)  to  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States.     Price 

had  been  promised  twenty  thousand  recruits,  if  he  should  enter 
Missouri  with  a  respectable  military  force.  He  and  General 
Shelby  went  over  the  Missouri  border  late  in  September  (1864), 
with  twenty  thousand  followers,  and  pushed  on  to  Pilot  Knob, 
half-way  to  St.  Louis.  But -the  promised  recruits  did  not  appear. 
The  vigilant  Rosecrans,  in  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Mis 
souri,  had  discovered  the  plans  of-  the  disloyalists,  and  by  some 
arrests  had  so  frightened  them  that  they  prudently  remained  in 
concealment.  Price  was  sorely  disappointed;  and  he  soon  per 
ceived  that  a  web  of  great  peril  was  gathering  around  him.  At 
Pilot  Knob,  General  Ewing,  with  a  brigade  of  National  troops, 
struck  him  an  astounding  blow.  Soon  afterward,  these,  with 
other  troops  under  Generals  A.  J.  Smith  and 'Mower,  sent  Price 
flying  westward  toward  Kansas,  closely  pursued.  The  exciting 
chase  was  enlivened  by  severe  skirmishes;  and  late  in  November, 
Price  was  a  fugitive  in  western  Arkansas,  with  a  broken  and  dis 
pirited  army.  This  was  the  last  invasion  of  Missouri. 

When  Longstreet  retired  from  Knoxville,  he  lingered  awhile 
between  there  and  the  Virginia  border;  but  he  finally  went  to  the 
aid  of  Lee's  menaced  army.     Morgan,   the  guerrilla  chief,   re 
mained  in  East  Tennessee  until  the  close  of  the  following  May 
(1864),  w'hen  he  went  over  the  mountains  and  raided  through  the 
richest  portions  of  Kentucky.     General  Burbridge  went  after  him, 
and  soo          jve  him  and  his  shattered  columns  back  into  East 
rle  was  surprised  at  Greenville,  where  he  was  shot 
Soon  afterward  the  region  between  Knoxville  and  the 


GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT 


Tenner 

dead  in  a  vineyard  while  attempting  to  escape. 
Virginia  line  became  the  theatre  of  some  stirring  minor  events  while  General  Breckenridge  was  in  com 
mand  of  the  Confederates  there. 

Let  us  now  resume  the  consideration  of  the  military  movements  against  Richmond  and  Atkmta. 

The  campaign  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  under  General  Meade,  against  the  Army  of  •ortl 
Virginia  led  by  General  Lee,  in  the  spring  of  1864,  was  preceded  by  some  movements  for  the  captuij 
Richmoad  and  the  liberation  of  Union  soldiers  confined  in  Libby  Prison,  and  on  Belle  Isle  in  the  Jal 
River  at  that  city.  Treachery  defeated  the  purposagfor  which,  in  February,  General  B.  F.  Butler,  in 
corafnand  of  the  Department  of  Virginia  and  Nortn  Carolina,  sent  fifteen  hundred  troops,  foot  and  horse, 
'Bunder  General  Wistar,  against  Richmond.  General  Kilpatrick,  with  five  thousand  of  his  cavalry,  came 
Trom  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  to  co-operate  with  him.  They  swept  within  the  outer  lines  of  the  defences 
of  Richmond,  on  the  first  of  March;  and  Colonel  Dahlgren,  son  of  the  admiral  of  that  name,  with  another 
•>  portion  ,of^that  cavalry,  was  repulsed  the  next  day,  ancr^vas  killed.  A  few  days  later,  General  Custer, 
with  his  horsernen,  threatened  Lee's  communications  in  the  direction  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  The 
movements  ciVWistar  were  made  fruitless,  owiijg  to  a  deserter,  who  gave  the  Confederates  warning  of  it, 
and  they  were  prepared  to  meet  it.  J 

The  grand  movement  of  the  Army  of  the  \Poto*jc  began  -in   May.  '  When   it   crossed  the  Rapidan 
and  tried  to  go  swiftly  by  Lee's  flank  under  cover  ofrll^iense  woods  of  the  Wilderness,  and  plant  itselfj 


A  t    » 


-  -TS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


373 


CREST  OF  MISSIONARY  RIDGE 


VIEWS  OF  MISSIONARY  RIDGE 


374 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


between  the  Confederate  army  and  Richmond,  the  vigilant  Lee  discovered  the  movement  and  boldly 
attacked  the  Nationals.  The  two  armies  numbered,  in  the  aggregate,  about  two  hundred  thousand  men; 
and  that  mighty  host  fought  desperately  for  almost  two  days  (May  5th  and  6th)  on  one  of  the  most 

remarkable  battlefields  ever  known.  The  ground  was  covered  with  a 
thick  growth  of  pines,  cedars,  and  scrub-oaks,  with  tangled  underbrush 
and  vines,  wherein  regular  military  movements  were  impossible.  Cav 
alry  could  not  contend;  and  no  single  vision  could  discern  a  thousand 
men  at  one  time.  In  that  mysterious  land  the  brave  General  Wadsworth 
of  the  Genesee  Valley  was  killed,  and  the  slaughter  of  troops  was  fearful. 
Both  armies  were  badly  shattered;  and  there  was  no  victory  for  either. 
The  Confederates  withdrew  to  their  intrenchments;  and  the  Nationals, 
led  by  General  Warren,  hastened  to  the  open  country  near  Spottsylvania 
Court-House. 

Lieutenant-General  Grant  was  the  guiding-spirit  in  the  National 
army.  He  was  determined  to  flank  Lee;  but  when  his  troops  emerged 
from  the  Wilderness,  he  found  the  Confederates  in  heavy  force  and  rap 
idly  gathering  athwart  his  path.  Arrangements  were  immediately  made 
for  another  battle,  during  which  the  gallant  General  Sedgwick,  leader  of 
the  Sixth  Corps,  was  killed  by  a  Confederate  sharp-shooter.  Both  armies 
were  cautious  in  their  movements;  and  finally,  on  the  morning  of  the 
loth  (May,  1864),  when  all  was  in  readiness,  a  furious  conflict  began  and 
raged  all  day  with  dreadful  losses  on  each  side.  On  the  following  morn- 


MAJOR-GENERAL  JOSEPH  HOOKER 


ing,  General  Grant  sent  to  the  President  the  famous  despatch,  in  which  he  said:   "/  propose  to  fight  it  out 
on  this  line,  if  it  takes  all  summer." 

On  the  1 2th,  another  sanguinary  battle  was  opened.  General  Hancock,  after  the  most  gallant 
struggle,  broke  through  the  Confederate  line  and  gained  a  great  advantage;  but  the  fierce  conflict  continued 
until  twilight,  and  did  not  entirely  cease  until  midnight,  when  Lee  suddenly  withdrew  behind  a  second 
line  of  entrenchments,  and  appeared  as  strong  as  ever.  Yet  Grant,  stubborn  and  bold,  was  not  disheart 
ened.  He  sent  cheering  despatches  to  the  government ;  and  pressing  forward,  fought  another  desperate 
battle  on  the  Ny,  not  far  from  Spottsylvania  Court-House.  Lee  was  repulsed.  Grant's  flanking  move 
ment  was  temporarily  checked,  but  he  speedily  resumed  it.  The  losses  on  both  sides,  during  about  a 
fortnight,  had  been  fearful.  That  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  about  forty  thousand  men,  killed, 
wounded,  and  prisoners;  and  that  of  the  Army  of  Xorthcrn  Virginia  was  about  thirty  thousand. 

In  the  meantime,  General  Sheridan  had  been  raiding  in  Lee's  rear  with  a  greater  part  of  the  National 
cavalry.  Like  Kilpatrick,  he  swept  down  into  the  Confederate  outworks  at  Richmond,  but  with  more 
successful  results,  for  he  destroyed  the  railway  communication  between 
Lee's  army  and  that  city.  At  the  same  time  there  was  a  co-operating 
force  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  first  under  General  Sigel  and  then  under 
General  Hunter;  but  they  did  not  accomplish  much  of  importance  besides 
destroying  a  vast  amount  of  property.  There  was  another  co-operating 
force  below  Richmond,  commanded  by  General  Butler.  He  had  been 
joined  by  Gillmore's  troops,  which  had  been  ordered  up  from  Charleston; 
and  with  about  twenty-five  thousand  men  he  went  up  the  James  River 
in  armed  transports,  seized  City  Point  at  the  mouth  of  the  Appomattox 
River,  and  took  possession  of  the  Peninsula  of  Bermuda  Hundred.  He 
cast  up  a  line  of  intrenchments  across  it  from  the  Appomattox  to  the 
James  and  destroyed  the  railway  between  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  so 
cutting  off  direct  communication  between  the  Confederate  capital  and  the 
South.  At  the  same  time  General  A.  V.  Kautz  went  up  from  Suffolk 
with  three  thousand  cavalry,  to  destroy  the  railways  south  and  west  from 
Petersburg;  but  before  he  struck  them,  Beauregard,  who  had  been  called 
from  Charleston,  had  filled  that  city  with  defenders.  The  withdrawal  of 
Gillmore's  troops  relieved  Charleston  of  immediate  danger;  and  when 
Butler  went  up  the  James,  Beauregard  was  summoned  to  Richmond. 
At  Petersburg  he  received  hourly  reinforcements,  and  some  of  them  he 
massed  in  front  of  Butler's  forces,  along  the  line  of  the  railway.  Finally, 
on  the  morning  of  the  i6th  of  May,  while  a  dense  fog  brooded  over  the  AN  ARMY  NKWS  BOY 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


375 


•      "^ 

v*^— "  "^t"-^  "**"" 

':$&&--        •  •       ' 

J^^^/ —  ;,.^'-~"  - 

i»*     !'  .-,--'"-  "     •  -^lw^«i'5k.    ****"      . 

:«,  ^  ^.. , 

*s~£-z.-     -^...c  4  • 

--'*-:*r  '        "        " •  •  ^^.'.., 

.  «^»«-  «.-   -^t  •• 

*f~~''"-f--  ~> 


RISGOLD'S  BATTERY 


••as  « 


VIEW  OF  RINGOLD,  GEORGIA 


376 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


GENERAL  N.  B.  FORREST,  C.  S.  A. 


country,  he  attempted  to  turn  Butler's  right  flank.  A  sharp  conflict  ensued,  in  which  the  Nationals  had 
about  four  thousand  men  engaged,  and  the  Confederates  about  three  thousand.  It  ended  by  the  retirement 
of  Butler's  forces  within  their  intrenchments.  For  several  days  afterward  there  was  considerable  skirmish 
ing  in  front  of  Butler's  lines,  when  he  received  orders  to  send  nearly  two- 
thirds  of  his  effective  men  to  the  north  side  of  the  James  River  to  assist 
the  army  contending  with  Lee  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Chickahominy. 
Butler  complied  with  the  requisition,  which  deprived  him  of  all  power  to 
make  further  offensive  movements.  "The  necessities  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,"  he  said,  "have  bottled  me  up  at  Bermuda  Hundred." 

While  General  Butler's  main  army  was  making  movements  toward 
Richmond,  Kautz  was  out  upon  another  raid  on  the  railways  leading  to 
that  city  from  the  south  and  southwest.  He  left  Bermuda  Hundred 
on  the  1 2th  of  May,  with  two  mounted  brigades;  passed  near  Fort 
Darling,  on  Drewry's  Bluff,  and  sweeping  on  an  arc  of  a  circle  by  Chester 
field  Court-House,  struck  the  Richmond  and  Danville  Railway  eleven 
miles  west  of  the  Confederate  capital.  After  again  striking  it  at  other 
points,  he  swept  around  eastward,  divided  his  forces,  and  with  a  part  of 
them  crossed  to  the  Southside  Railway,  while  another  portion  proceeded 
to  the  junction  of  the  Danville  and  Southside  roads.  Then  he  went 
eastward  with  his  whole  force,  striking  and  destroying  the  Weldon  Rail 
way  far  toward  the  North  Carolina  line,  and  then  made  his  way  back  to 
City  Point.  In  this  raid  Kautz  had  seriously  damaged  the  railroads  that 
lay  in  his  track,  and  took  to  City  Point  one  hundred  and  fifty  prisoners. 

After  the  struggles  near  Spottsylvania  Court-House,  Grant  moved  steadily  on  toward  Richmond, 
while  Lee  moved  on  a  parallel  line  to  thwart  his  antagonist's  plans.  At  the  passage  of  the  North  Anna, 
they  fought  a  severe  battle  on  the  23d  of  May.  There,  in  close  communication  with  the  Central  Virginia 
Railway,  Lee  had  evidently  determined  to  make  a  stand.  Over  that  railway,  Breckenridge,  who  had 
beaten  Sigel  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  was  hastening  to  reinforce  Lee,  and  Grant  resolved  to  dislodge 
his  antagonist  before  aid  should  reach  him.  This  was  accomplished,  when  Lee  withdrew  to  a  stronger 
position  where  Grant  did  not  attack  him.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  pressed  steadily  forward,  with 
Sheridan's  cavalry  in  advance,  and  on  the  28th  of  May,  the  entire  force  of  the  Nationals  were  south  of 
the  Pamunkey  River,  with  an  uninterrupted  communication  with  their  new  base  of  supplies  at  the  ruins 
of  the  "White  House"  near  the  mouth  of  that  stream.  Lee  had  moved  by  a  shorter  road,  and  occupied 
a  strong  position  on  the  Chickahominy  River,  which  commanded  a  turnpike  and  two  railways  that  led 
to  Richmond. 

Across  the  Chickahominy  River  was  the  only  direct  pathway  to  the  Confederate  capital,  and  to 
pursue  it,  Lee  must  be  dislodged.  The  cavalry  of  both  armies  had  sharp  engagements  at  the  close  of  May, 
while  reconnaissances  were  going  on;  when  Grant,  believing  he  could  not  successfully  assail  his  antagonist 

in  his  strong  position,  began  another  flanking  movement  with  the  inten 
tion  of  crossing  the  Chickahominy  near  Cold  Harbor  wThere  Sheridan  had 
gained  an  advantageous  foothold.  There  the  army  was  reinforced  by  ten 
thousand  men  sent  from  Bermuda  Hundred,  led  by  General  W.  F.  Smith; 
and  there,  from  the  ist  to  the  3d  of  June  (1864),  there  was  a  fearful 
struggle  on  the  old  battle-ground  of  Lee  and  McClellan  two  years  before. 
On  the  3d,  one  of  the  most  sanguinary  battles  of  the  war  was  fought.  It 
was  brief,  but  terrible.  Within  the  space  of  twenty  minutes  after  the 
first  shot  was  fired,  ten  thousand  Union  soldiers  were  killed  or  wounded. 
The  battle  ended  at  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  Nationals  holding 
their  ground.  They  moved  gradually  to  the  left,  and  on  the  yth  of  June 
that  wing  touched  the  Chickahominy  River.  Then  Sheridan  was  sent 
to  destroy  the  railways  on  Lee's  left,  which  he  did  as  far  as  Gordonsville. 
General  Grant  now  determined  to  transfer  his  army  to  the  south  side 
of  the  James  River,  cut  off  the  chief  sources  of  supply  of  men  and  provi 
sions  for  Lee's  army  from  the  South,  and  attempt  the  capture  of  Rich 
mond  from  that  direction.  At  near  the  middle  of  June  the  whole  army 
=1  crossed  the  Chickahominy  at  Long  Bridge,  and  moved  to  the  James  by 
GENERAL  BISHOP  POPE,  C.  S.  A.  way  of  Charles  City  Court-House.  They  crossed  that  river  in  boats  and 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    II"  A  R 


377 


FORT  SANDKKS,  KNOXVILI.E,  TENN. 


378 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


ADMIRAL  J.  A.  DAHLGREX 


on  pontoon  bridges;  and  on  the  i6th  of  June,  when  the  entire  army  was  over,  General  Grant  made  his 
headquarters  at  City  Point.  A  portion  of  the  Army  of  the  James,  under  General  Butler,  had  made  an 
unsuccessful  attempt  to  capture  Petersburg  before  Lee  should  send  down  troops  to  reinforce  Beauregard, 
who  had  cast  up  strong  lines  of  intrenchments  around  that  city.  These 
works  were  confronted  by  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  on  the  evening  of  the 
1 6th  of  June;  and  from  that  time  until  the  ;,oth  of  July,  there  was  much 
severe  fighting,  with  great  loss  of  life,  in  unsuccessful  attempts  of  the 
Union  troops  to  take  the  place  by  storm  and  destroy  railway  communi 
cations  with  it. 

There  was  a  brief  lull  in  the  operations  against  Petersburg  and  Rich 
mond,  at  about  the  beginning  of  July.  During  that  time,  General  Early, 
with  about  fifteen  thousand  Confederate  troops,  swept  down  the  Shenan- 
doah  Valley  and  across  the  Potomac  at  Williamsport,  driving  General  Sigel 
before  him,  and  penetrating  Maryland  to  Hagerstown  and  Frederick. 
This  formidable  raid  was  designed  to  draw  a  large  body  of  troops  from 
Grant  to  the  defence  of  the  National  capital;  also  for  plunder.  When 
Grant  heard  of  it,  he  sent  General  Wright,  with  the  Sixth  corps,  to  protect 
Washington.  General  Lewis  Wallace,  then  in  command  of  the  Middle 
Department,  with  his  headquarters  at  Baltimore,  proceeded  from  that 
city,  with  a  few  troops  hastily  collected,  to  confront  the  invaders,  and  on 
the  gth  of  July  he  met  and  fought  Early's  host  on  the  Monocacy  River 
not  far  from  Frederick.  Wallace  had  been  joined  by  a  portion  of  Rick- 
ett's  brigade  from  the  advance  of  the  Sixth  corps.  This  handful  of  warriors,  after  fighting  overwhelming 
numbers  eight  hours,  were  defeated,  with  heavy  loss,  when  Early  pushed  on  toward  Washington.  But 
the  vanquished  troops  had  really  won  a  victory  for  their  country,  for  they  detained  the  invaders  long 
enough  to  allow  the  Sixth  and  Nineteenth  corps  to  reach  and  secure  the  National  Capital.  When  General 
Early  perceived  this,  he  pushed  across  the  Potomac  with  a  large  amount  of  plunder,  closely  pursued  by 
General  Wright  to  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  through  Snicker's  Gap,  where,  after  a  sharp  conflict  on  the 
i gth  (July),  the  invaders  retreated  up  the  Valley  and  the  pursuers  returned  to  Washington. 

It  was  soon  discovered  that  Early  had  not  gone  to  join  Lee,  as  was  suspected,  but  remained  in  the 
Valley  with  all  his  force.  Some  of  his  troops  were  worsted  in  a  fight  with  Nationals  under  General  Averill, 
near  Winchester,  on  the  2oth;  and  they  soon  afterward  pushed  General  Crook,  in  command  of  the  Army 
of  Western  Virginia,  back  toward  the  Potomac,  with  considerable  loss.  Then  Early  sent  General  McCaus- 
land,  Bradley  Johnson  and  other  officers,  with  three  thousand  followers,  all  mounted,  on  a  plundering 
tour  in  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania.  They  swept,  in  eccentric  lines,  over  the  country,  thereby  distracting 
the  armed  defenders  of  it;  and  on  the  3oth  of  July  entered  the  defenceless  and  almost  deserted  village  of 
Chambersburg,  in  Pennsylvania,  where  they  demanded  a  tribute  of  $200,000  in  gold,  or  $500,000  in  paper 
currency,  to  insure  the  town  from  destruction.  It  was  impossible  to  give  the  tribute,  and  two-thirds  of 
the  village  was  laid  in  ashes.  No  time  was  given  for  the  removal  of  the  infirm,  the  sick,  or  the  women 
and  children.  The  incendiaries  did  not  remain  long  enough  to  see  the  ruin  they  had  initiated;  for  General 
Averill,  who  was  ten  miles  distant,  moved  against  them,  and  chased  them  back  into  Virginia.  This  raid 

caused  the  Sixth  and  Nineteenth  corps,  commanded  re 
spectively  by  Generals  Wright  and  Emory,  to  be  sent 
into  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  where  the  National  forces, 
now  thirty  thousand  strong,  were  placed  under  the  chief 
command  of  General  Sheridan,  early  in  August. 

At  the  middle  of  September,  General  Grant  visited 
Sheridan,  at  Charlestown.  He  found  him  ready  for 
action  against  Early.  Satisfied  that  his  plan  of  opera 
tions  was  feasible,  the  lieutenant-general  said  to  the 
energetic  leader,  "Go  in."  Inthesetwo  words  the  chief 
expressed  his  confidence  in  Sheridan's  judgment  and 
skill.  He  did  "go  in;"  and  very  soon  he  sent  Early 
' '  whirling  up  the  Valley, "  as  he  expressed  it.  He  fought 
and  conquered  him  at  Winchester  on  the  i  gth  of  Septem 
ber  (1864),  when  the  Confederates  fell  back  to  the  strong 
position  of  Fisher's  Hill,  near  Strasburg.  Sheridan 


ADMIRAL  DAHLGREN  AND  STAFF 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


379 


DECK  AND  CREW  OF  MONITOR 


DECK  OF  GUNHOAT  AGAWAM  AND  OFFICERS 


380 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


THE  "SWAMP  AXGEL"  AT  MORRIS  ISLAND 


drove  them  from  there  on  the  226,  at  the  end  of  a  sharp  battle,  in  which  Early  lost  heavily,  and  was  chased 
to  Port  Republic,  near  which  the  pursuers  burned  his  wagon-trains.  The  National  cavalry  followed  him 
to  Staunton,  where  the  Confederates  took  refuge  in  the  ranges  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  Sheridan's  forces  fell 

back  to  a  strong  position  behind  Cedar  Creek,  and  that 
leader  departed  for  Washington  city  with  the  belief  that 
the  Valley  was  purged  of  Confederates  in  arms.  It  was 
a  mistake.  A  month  later,  Early,  reinforced,  fell  with 
crushing  weight  upon  the  Nationals  at  Cedar  Creek,  com 
manded  by  General  Wright,  and,  for  a  time,  their  destruc 
tion  seemed  inevitable.  They  fell  back  to  Middletown 
and  beyond,  where  they  turned  upon  the  pursuers,  and 
a  desperate  battle  ensued. 

When  the  battle  commenced,  Sheridan  was  in  Win 
chester  on  his  way  to  the  army.  The  sound  of  conflict 
fell  upon  his  ear,  and,  mounting  his  powerful  black  horse, 
he  pushed  on  toward  Cedar  Creek.  Presently  he  met  the 
van  of  fugitives  hurrying  from  the  lost  battle-field,  at 
that  stream,  who  told  him  a  piteous  tale  of  disaster. 
Sheridan  ordered  the  retreating  artillery  to  be  parked  on 
each  side  of  the  turnpike,  and  telling  his  escort  to  follow, 
he  dashed  forward,  his  horse  on  a  swinging  gallop,  and  at 
that  pace  he  rode  nearly  twelve  miles  to  the  scene  of  con 
flict.  The  fugitives  became  thicker  and  thicker  every 
moment.  But  Sheridan  did  not  stop  to  chide  nor  coax; 
but  as  his  powerful  black  steed  thundered  over  that  mag 
nificent  stone  road  which  traverses  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  he  waved  his  hat  and  shouted  to  the  tumultuous 
crowds :  ' '  Face  the  other  way,  boys ;  face  the  other  way !  We  are  going  back  to  our  camp  to  lick  them  out 
of  their  boots ! "  The  man  and  the  act  were  marvellously  magnetic  in  their  effects.  The  tide  of  disordered 
troops  was  instantly  turned,  and  flowed  swiftly  in  the  wake  of  their  young  commander.  As  he  dashed 
into  the  lines,  and  rode  along  the  front  of  forming  regiments,  he  gave  to  each  most  stirring  words  of  cheer 
and  encouragement,  and  declared  in  substance,  "We'll  have  all  those  camps  and  cannon  back  again." 
The  men  believed  him,  and  showing  their  faith  by  their  works,  secured  a  speedy  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy. 
General  Wright  had  already  brought  order  out  of  confusion.  A  very  severe  struggle  ensued,  and  very 
soon  Early  was  again  sent  "whirling"  up  the  Valley.  The  National  cavalry  of  Emory's  corps,  falling 
upon  both  flanks,  caused  the  Confederates  to  flee  in  hot  haste  up  the  Valley  pike,  in  great  disorder,  to 
Fisher's  Hill,  leaving  the  highway  strewn  with  abandoned  hindrances  to  flight.  The  road  was  clogged 
with  masses  of  men,  wagons,  cannon  and  caissons,  in  utter  confusion,  and  these  were  left  behind.  This 
short  but  brilliant  campaign  of  Sheridan,  which  nearly  annihilated  Early's  force,  ended  hostilities  in 
the  Shenandoah  Valley. 

Let  us  now  turn  again  toward  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  for  a  moment. 

General  Butler  had  thrown  a  pontoon-bridge  across  the  James  River  at  Deep  Bottom,  within  ten 
miles  of  Richmond,  over  which  troops  passed  to  the  north  side  of  that  stream  and  menaced  the  Confederate 
capital.  Lee  was  alarmed  by  the  movement  and  withdrew  a  large  force  from  Petersburg  to  defend 
Richmond,  believing  the  latter  city  would  be  immediately  attacked ;  and  there  it  was  that  General  Grant 
made  the  unsuccessful  attempts  just  men 
tioned,  to  penetrate  the  Confederate  lines 
before  Petersburg.  He  had  mined  under 
one  of  the  principal  forts,  and  it  was  blown 
up  on  the  morning  of  the  ^oth  of  July,  with 
terrible  effect.  In  the  place  of  the  fortifi 
cation  was  left  a  crater  of  loose  earth  two 
hundred  feet  in  length,  full  fifty  feet  in 
width,  and  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  feet 
in  depth.  The  fort,  its  guns  and  other 
munitions  of  war,  with  three  hundred  men, 
had  been  thrown  high  in  air,  and  annihi 
lated.  Then  the  great  guns  of  the  Nationals  THE  "SWAMP  ANGEL"  AFTER  BURSTING  ox  36™  SHOT 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


381 


SWAMP. 
BATTERY 


SCENES  AT  MORRIS  ISLAND 


382 


.-1    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


opened  a  heavy  cannonade  upon  the  remainder  of  the  works,  with  precision  and  fearful  effect,  all  along 
the  lines;  but  owing  partly  to  the  slowness  of  motion  of  a  portion  of  the  assaulting  force,  the  result  was  a 
most  disastrous  failure  on  the  part  of  the  assailants. 

A  fortnight  later  Grant  sent  another  expedition  to  the  north  side  of  the  James,  at  Deep  Bottom, 
composed  of  the  divisions  of  Birney  and  Hancock,  with  cavalry 
led  by  General  Gregg.  They  had  sharp  engagements  with  the 
Confederates  on  the  i^th,  i6th  and  iSth  of  August,  in  which  the 
Nationals  lost  about  five  thousand  men  without  gaining  any 
special  advantage  excepting  the  incidental  one  of  giving  assistance 
to  troops  sent  to  seize  the  Weldon  railway,  south  of  Petersburg. 
This  General  Warren  effected  on  the  iSth  of  August.  Three  days 
afterward  he  repulsed  a  Confederate  force  who  attempted  to  repos 
sess  the  portion  of  the  road  held  by  the  Unionists;  and  on  the 
same  day  General  Hancock,  who  had  returned  from  the  north  side 
of  the  James,  struck  the  Weldon  road  at  Reams's  Station,  and 
destroyed  the  track  for  some  distance.  The  Nationals  were  finally 
driven  from  the  road  with  considerable  loss. 

For  little  more  than  a  month  after  this,  there  was  comparative 
quiet  in  the  vicinity  of  Petersburg  and  Richmond.  The  National 
troops  were  moved  simultaneously  toward  each  city.  General 
Butler,  with  the  Tenth  Army  Corps  under  General  Birney,  and 
the  Eighteenth  corps  under  General  Ord,  moved  upon  Fort  Harri 
son,  on  the  north  side  of  the  James,  and  captured  it  on  the  2gth 

of  September.     These  troops  charged  upon  another  fort  near  by,  and  were  repulsed  with 
Among  the  slain  was  General  Burnham.     General  Ord  was  severely  wounded.     The 
Harrison  was  named  Fort  Burnham  in  honor  of  the  slain  general. 


-•-=&!! 


EXTERIOR  OF  FORT  SUMTER  WHII.K  IN 
POSSESSION  OF  CONFEDERATE  FORCES 


heavy  loss, 
captured   Fort 

In  these  assaults  the  gallantry  of  the 
colored  troops  was  so  conspicuous,  that  General  Butler  presented  to  each  of  the  more  meritorious  ones  a 
silver  medal,  wThich  bore  a  device  commemorative  of  their  valor. 

In  'the  meantime,  General  Meade  had  sent  General  Warren  with  two  divisions  of  his  corps,  General 
Parke  with  two  divisions  of  the  Ninth  corps,  and  General  Gregg  with  his  cavalry,  to  attempt  the  extension 
of  the  National  left  on  the  Weldon  road.  The  chief  object  of  the  movement  was  to  mask  the  more 
important  operations  of  Butler  at  that  time.  But  it  resulted  in  severe  fighting  on  the  first  and  second 
days  of  October  (1864),  with  varying  fortunes  for  both  parties. 

Now  there  was  another  pause  but  not  a  settled  rest  for  about  a  month,  when  the  greater  portion  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  was  massed  on  the  Confederate  right,  south  of  the  James;  and  on  the  2yth  of  October, 
they  assailed  Lee's  works  on  Hatcher's  Run,  westward  of  the  Weldon  road.  A  severe  struggle  ensued. 
The  Nationals  were  repulsed,  and  on  the  2gth  they  withdrew  to  their  intrenchments  in  front  of  Petersburg. 
Very  little  of  importance  was  done  by  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  after  that,  until  the  opening  of  the  campaign 
in  the  spring  of  1865,  excepting  the  extension  of  their  line  to  Hatcher's  Run.  The  losses  of  that  army 
had  been  fearful  during  six  months,  from  the  beginning  of  May  until  November,  1864.  The  aggregate 
number  in  killed,  wounded,  missing  and  prisoners,  was  over  eighty-eight  thousand  men,  of  whom  nearly  ten 

thousand  were  killed  in  battle.  Add  to  these  the 
losses  in  the  Army  of  the  James  during  the  same 
time,  and  the  sum  would  be  full  one  hundred 
thousand  men. 

The  command  of  the  troops  engaged  in 
the  campaign  against  Atlanta  was,  as  we  have 
observed,' entrusted  to  General  Wm.  T.  Sher 
man,  who  had  succeeded  General  Grant  in  com 
mand  of  the  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi. 
With  a  force  composed  of  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland  led  by  General  George  H.  Thomas, 
the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  led  by  General  J.  B. 
McPherson,  and  the  Army  of  the  Ohio  com 
manded  by  General  J.  M.  Schofield,  Sherman 
moved  southward  from  the  vicinity  of  Chatta 
nooga  on  the  6th  of  May,  1864. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


:;*:; 


VIKWS  AT  I-'URT  WAGNER 


384 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


CHRONOLOGICAL  SUMMARY  AND  RECORD— Continued 


JUNE,  1861 — Continued  jram  Section   11 

2 — Bermuda  Hundred,  Va.  Tenth  Corps.  Union  25  killed,  100  wounded. 
Confcd.  100  killed  and  wounded. 

3  to  6-TPanther  Gap  and  Buffalo  Gap,  W.  Va.  Hayes's  Brigade  of  2d 
Division  Army  of  West  Virginia.  L'nion  25  killed  and  wounded. 
Confed.  25  killed  and  wounded. 

5 — Piedmont,  W.  Va.  Portion  of  Army  of  West  Virginia,  commanded  by 
Maj.-Gen.  Hunter.  Union  130  killed,  050  wounded.  Confed.  4li() 
killed,  1,450  wounded,  1,000  missing.  Confed.  Gen.  W.  E.  Jones 
killed. 

6 — Lake  Chicot.  Ark.  Sixteenth  Corps.  Union  40  killed.  70  wounded. 
Confed.  100  killed  and  wounded. 

9 — Point  of  Rocks.  Md.     2d  U.  S.  Colored  Cav.      Union  2  killed. 

Mt.  Sterling.  Ky.  Burbridgc's  Cayalry.  Union  35  killed,  150  wounded. 
Confed.  50  killed,  200  wounded,  250  captured. 

9  to  30 — Kenesaw  Mountain.  Marietta  or  Big  Shanty,  Ga.,  including 
general  assault  on  the  27th.  Pine  Mt.,  Golgotha,  Culp's  House  and 
Powder  Springs.  Fourth,  Fourteenth  and  Twentieth  Corps,  Army 
of  the  Cumberland,  Maj.-Gen.  Thomas;  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth  and 
Seventeenth  Corps,  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  Maj.-Gen.  McPherson; 
Twenty-third  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Schofield;  Army  of  the  Mississippi, 
Maj.-Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman.  Union  1,370  killed,  0.500  wounded.  800 
missing.  Confed.  1,100  killed  and  wounded,  3,500  missing.  Union 
Brig. -Gens.  Harkerand  McCook  killed.  Confed.  Lieut. -Gen.  Leonidas 
Polk  killed. 
10 — Petersburg.  Va.  Portion  of  Tenth  Corps  and  Kautz's  Cav.  Union  20 

killed,  07  wounded. 

Brice's  Cross  Roads,  near  Guntown,  Miss.  81st,  95th,  lOSth.  113th, 
114th  and  120th  111.,  72d  and  95th  Ohio.  Oth  Minn.,  93d  Ind.,  55th 
and  59th  U.  S.  Colored,  Brig.-Gen.  Grierson's  Cavalry,  the  4th  Mo., 
2d  X.  J.,  19th  Pa.,  7th  and  Oth  111.,  7th  Ind.,  3d  and  4th  Iowa,  and 
10th  Kan.  Cav..  1st  111.  and  Oth  Ind.  Batteries,  Battery  F  2d  U.  S. 
Colored  Artil.  Union  223  killed,  394  wounded,  1,023  missing.  Con- 
fed.  131  killed,  475  wounded. 

Cynthiana  and  Kellar's  Bridge.  Ky.  ICiSth  an:!  171st  Ohio.  Union 
21  killed,  71  wounded,  980  captured  by  Morgan's  Raiders. 

10  and  11 — Lexington,  W.  Va.     2d  Division  Army  of  West  Virginia.      Union 

0  killed,  18  wounded. 

11 — Cynthiana,  Ky.  Burbridge's  Cav.  Attack  on  Morgan's  Raiders. 
Union  150  killed  and  wounded.  Confed.  3'M  killed  and  wounded, 
400  captured. 

11  and  12 — Trevil'an  Station,  Va.     Sheridan's  Cavalry.      Union  85  killed, 

490  wounded,  100  missing.     Confed.  370  missing. 
13 — White  Oak  Swamp  Bridge.  Va.     Wilson's  and  Crawford's  Cav.      Union 

50  killed,  250  wounded. 

14 — Lexington,  Mo.     Detachment  1st  Mo.  Cav.      Union  8  killed,  1  wounded. 
15 — Samaria  Church,  Malvcrn  Hill,  Va.     Wilson's  Cav.      Union  25  killed, 

3  wounded.     Confed.  100  killed  and  wounded. 
15  to  19 — Petersburg,  Va.  (Commencement  of  the  siege  that  continued  to 

its  fall,  April  2,   1805).      Tenth  and  Eighteenth  Corps.  Army  of  the 

James.  Maj.-Gen.  B.  F.  Butler;  Second.  Fifth,  Sixth  and  Ninth  Corps, 

Army  of  the  Potomac,  Mai. -Gen.  Geo.  G.  Meade.      Union  1,298  killed, 

7,474  wounded,  1,814  missing. 

16 — Otter  Creek,  near  Liberty,  Va.  Hunter's  Command  in  advance  of  the 
Army  of  West  Virginia.  Union  3  killed,  15  wounded. 

17  and  18 — Lynchburg,  Va.  Sullivan's  and  Crook's  Divisions  and  Averill's 
and  Duffle's  Cav.,  Army  of  the  West  Virginia.  Union  100  killed,  500 
wounded.  100  missing.  Confed.  200  killed  amd  wounded. 

19 — Capture  of  the  Alabama,  off  Cherbourg,  France,  by  U.  S.  Steamer 
Kearsane.  Union  3  wounded.  Confed.  9  killed,  21  wounded,  70 
captured. 

20  to  30— In  front  of  Petersburg,  Va.  Fifth,  Ninth,  Tenth  and  Eighteenth 
Corps.  Union  112  killed.  500  wounded,  800  missing.  Union  Gens. 
Chamberlain  and  Eagan  wounded. 

21 — Salem,  Va.  Averill's  Cav.  Union  6  killed,  10  wounded.  Confed.  10 
killed  and  wounded. 

Xaval  engagement  on  the  James  River,  near  Dutch  Gap.     Casualties 

not  recorded. 

Buford's  Gap,  Va.     23d  Ohio.     Union  15  killed. 
22 — White  River,  Ark.     Three  Cos.  12th  Iowa,  and  U.  S.  Gunboat  Lexington. 

Union  2  killed,  4  wounded.     Confed.  2  killed,  3  wounded. 
22  and  23— Weldon  Railroad.  Williams'  Farm  or  Jerusalem  Plank  Road,  Va. 
Second,  Sixth  and  1st  Division  of  Fifth  Corps,  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
Union  004  killed,  2,494  wounded,  2,217  missing.   Confcd.  300  wounded 
200  missing. 

22  to  30— Wilson's  Raid  on  the  Weldon  Railroad.  Va.     Kautz's  and  Wilson's 

Cav.      Union  92  killed,  317  wounded,  734  missing.      Confed.  365  killed 
and  wounded. 

23  and  24 — Jones's  Bridge  and  Samaria  Church,  Va.     Torbett's  and  Gregg's 

Cavalry    Divisions.      Union    54    killed,    235    wounded,    300 
Confed.  250  killed  and  wounded. 


missing. 


25  to  29— Clarendon,  St.  Charles  River,  Ark.  12(ith  111.  and  llth  Mo.,  9th 
Iowa  and  3d  Mich.  Cav..  Battery  D  2d  Mo.  Artil.  Union  200 
wounded.  Confed.  200  wounded,  200  missing. 

JULY,  1864 

1  to  31 — In  front  of  Petersburg,  including  Deep  Bottom,  Xew  Market,  and 

Malvern  Hill,  on  the  27th,  and  mine  explosion  on  the  30th.      Second, 
Fifth,  Xinth,  Tenth  and  Eighteenth  Corps.      Union  898  killed,  4.000 
wounded.  3.110  missing.     Confed.  loss  at  Deep  Bottom,  400  killed, 
600  wounded,  200  missing. 
2 — Pine  Bluff,  Ark.     04th  U.  S.  Col.     Union  0  killed. 

Fort  Johnson,  James  Island,  S.  C.     Troops  of  Department  of  the  South. 
Union  19  killed,  97  wounded,  135  missing. 

2  to  5— Xickaiack  Creek  or  Smyrna.  Ga.     Troops  under  command  of  Maj.- 

Gen.  Sherman.     Union  00  killed,  310  wounded.     Confed.   100  killed 
and  wounded. 


3 — Leetown,  Va.    10th  W.  Va.,  1st  X.  Y.  Cav.     Union  3  killed.  12  wounded. 
Hammack's  Mills,  W.  Va.      153d  Ohio  N'atl.  Guard.      Union  3  killed,  7 
wounded. 

3  to  9 — Expedition  from  Vicksbur^  to  Jackson.  Miss.      1st  Division  Seven 

teenth  Corps.      Union  150  wounded.     Confed.  200  wounded. 
4 — Vicksburg,  Miss.     4Sth  U.  S.  Colored.      Union  1  killed,  7  wounded. 

4  to  5— Coleman's  Plantation,  near  Port  Gibson,  Miss.     52d  U.  S.  Colored. 

Union  6  killed,  18  wou.ided. 

4  to    7 — Bolivar    and     Maryland    Heights.      Maj.-Gen.    Sigd's    Reserve 

Division.      Union  20  killed,  SO  wounded. 
5 — Hagerstown,  Md.      1st  Md.  Cavalry,  Potomac  Home  Brigade.      Union 

2  killed,  0  wounded. 

5  to  7 — John's  Island.  S.  C.      Maj.-Gen.  Foster's  troops.      Union  1C  killed, 

82  wounded.     Confed.  20  killed,  SO  wounded. 

5  to  18 — Smith's  Expedition,  La  Grange,  Tenn.,  to  Tupelo.  Miss.      1st  and 

3d  Divisions  Sixteenth  Corps,  one  Brigade  U.  S.  Colored  Troops  and 
Grierson's    Cavalry.      Union    85    killed,    567    wounded.      Confed.    110 
killed,  001)  wounded. 
6— Little  Blue,  Mo.     2d  Col.  Cav.      Union  8  killed,  1  wounded. 

6  to  10 — Chattahoochec  River,  Ga.     Army  of  the  Ohio.  Maj.-Gen.  Scho- 

:Yld;  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  Maj.-Gen.  McPherson;  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  Maj.-Gen.  Thomas;  Armv  of  the  Mississippi.  Maj.-Gen. 
W.  T.  Sherman.  Union  80  killed,  450  wounded,  200  missing. 
7 — Solomon's  Gap  and  Mid  lleton,  Md.  8th  111.  Cav.,  Potomac  Home 
Brigade  and  Alexander's  Baltimore  Battery.  Union  5  killed,  20 
wounded. 

9 — Monocacy,  Md.  1st  and  2d  Brigades  of  3d  Division  Sixth  Corps,  and 
Detachment  of  Eighth  Corps.  Union  90  killed,  579  wounded,  1,290 
missing.  Confed.  400  wounded. 

11  to  22 — Rosseau's  Raid  in  Alabama  and  Georgia,  including  Ten  Islands  and 
Stone's  Ferry,  Ala.,  and  Auburn  and  Chewa  Station,  Ga.  Sth  Ind., 
5th  Iowa,  Sth  Ohio,  2d  Ky.  and  4th  Tenn.  Cav..  Battery  E  1st  Mich. 
Artil.  Union  3  killed.  3J  wounded.  Confed.  95  killed  and  wounded. 

12 — Fort  Stevens,  Washington.  D.  C.  Twenty-second  Corps.  1st  and  2d 
Divisions  Sixth  Corps.  Marines,  Home  Guards,  citizens  and  convales 
cents.  Union  54  killed,  319  wounded.  Confed.  500  killed  and 
wounded. 

Lee's  Mills,  near  Ream's  Station,  Va.     2d  Division  Gregg's  Cav.      Unhn 

3  killed.  13  wounded.     Confed.  25  killed  and  wounded. 

14 — Farr's  Mills.  Ark.     One  Co.  4th  Ark.  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  7  wounded. 

Confed.  4  killed,  0  wounded. 
14  and  15 — Ozark,  Mo.      14th  Kan.  Cav.      Union  2  killed,  1  wounded. 

16  and  17 — Grand  Gulf,  Port  Gibson,  Miss.     72d  a-nd  70th  111..  53d  U.  S. 

Colored,  2d  Wis.  Cav.     Casualties  not  recorded. 

17  and  18 — Snicker's  Gap  and  Island  Ford,  Va.     Army  of  West  Virginia, 

Maj.-Gen.  Crook  and  portion  of  Sixth  Corps.      Union  30  killed,  181 

wounded,  100  missing. 

18 — Ashby's  Gap,  Va.      Duffie's  Cav.      Union  200  kil'.eJ  and  wounded. 
19  and  20 — Darksville,  Stevenson's  Depot  and  Winchester.  Va.     Averill's 

Cav.      Union   38   killed,    175   wounded.      Confed.    300    wounded,    300 

captured. 

20 — Peach  Tree  Creek,  Ga.  Fourth,  Fourteenth  and  Twentieth  Corps, 
Maj.-Gen.  Geo.  H.  Thomas.  Union  300  killed,  1,410  wounded 
Confed.  1,113  killed,  2,500  wounded.  1,183  missing.  Confed.  Brig.- 
Gens.  Featherstone,  Long,  Pett  s  and  Stevens  killed. 

22 — Atlanta,  Ga.  (Hood's  first  sortie.)  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth  and  Seven 
teenth  Corps,  Mai. -Gen.  McPherson.  Union  500  killed,  2  141 
wounded,  1,000  missing.  Confed.  2,482  killed,  4,000  wounded,  2,017 
mis-ling.  Union  Maj.-Gen.  McPherson  and  Brig.-Gen.  Greathouse 
killed. 

22 — Decatur.    Ga.     2d    Brigade   of   the   4th    Division   of   Sixteenth    Corps. 

Confed.  Maj.-Gen.  Walker  killed. 

23  and  24 — Kernstown  and  Winchester,  Va.  Portion  of  Army  of  West  Vir 
ginia.  Union  1,200  killed  and  wounded.  Confed.  000  killed  and 

wounded. 
26 — Wallace's   Ferry,  Ark.     15th  111.   Cav.,  60th   and   5C,th   U.   S.   Colored 

Troops,  Co.  E  2d  U.  S.  Colored  Artil.      Union  Hi  killed,  32  wounded. 

Confed.  150  wounded. 
26  to  31 — Stoneman's  Raid  to  Macon,  Ga.     Stoneman'?  and  Garrard's  Cav. 

Union  100  killed  and  wounded,  900  missing. 
26  to  31 — McCook's  Raid  to  Lovejoy  Station,  Ga.      1st  Wis..  Sth  and  Sth 

Iowa,  2d  and  Sth  Ind.,    1st  and  4th  Tenn.,  and  4th  Ky.   Cavalry. 

Union  100  killed  and  wounded,  500  missing. 
27 — Mazzard  Prairie,  Fort  Smith,  Ark.     Two  hundred  men  of  Oth  Kan.  Cav. 

Union    12  killed,    17  wounded,    152  captured.      Confed.    12  killed,   20 

wounded. 

28 — Atlanta.  Ga.  (Second  sortie  at  Ezra  Chapel.)  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth 
and  Seventeenth  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Howard.  Union  100  killed,  fiOO 
wounded.  Confed.  042  killed,  3,000  wounded,  1.000  missing. 

28  to  Sept.  22 — Siege  of  Atlanta.  Ga.  Army  of  the  Military  Division  of  the 
Mississippi,  Maj.-Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman.  Casualties  not  recorded. 

29 — Clear  Springs,  Md.  12th  and  14th  Penna.  Cav.  Confed.  17  killed  and 
wounded. 

30 — Lee's  M1K  T'i.      Dnvis's  Cav.      Union  2  killed.  11  wounded. 
Lebanon,  Ky.     One  Co.  12th  Ohio  Cav.     Confed.  C  killed. 

AUGUST,  1864 

1  to  31 — In  front  of  Petersburg,  Va.     Second,  Fifth,  Xinth  and  Eighteenth 

Corps.      Union  S/  killed,  481  wounded. 
2 — Green  Springs,  W.  Va.      153d  Ohio.      Union   1  killed,  5  wounded,  90 

missing.      Confcd.  5  killed,  22  wou.iJed. 

5 — Dunaldsonville,  La.      llth  X.  Y.  Cav.      Union  60  missing. 
5  to  23— Forts  Gaines  and  Morgan,  Mobile  Harbor,  Ala.      Thirteenth  Corps 

and    Admiral   Farragut's  fleet   of   war  vessels.      Union   75  killed,    100 

drowned   by  sinking  of  the   Tecumseh,    170  wounded.      Confed.   2,344 

captured. 

(Continued  in   Section    13) 


r 


LU 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


SCENES  OF  GENERALS  ('.KANT  AND  SHERIDAN'S  CAMPAIGN,  \ORTH  ANNA. 


386 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CI  V I L     W  A  R 


CHANCELLORSVILLE. 


CHAPTER    XXIIL— Continued. 

THE  aggregate  number  of  Sherman's  soldiers  was  about  one  hundred  thousand  men.  These  were  con 
fronted  by  about  fifty-five  thousand  men,  led  by  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  and  arranged  in  three 
corps  commanded  respectively  by  Generals  Hardee,  Hood,  and  Polk.     This  army  then  lay  at  Dalton,  at  the 
parting  of  the  ways,  one  leading  into  East  Tennessee,  and  the  other  into  West  Tennessee.     To  strike 

that  position  in  front  was  impracticable,  or,  at  least, 
perilous,  for  the  Confederates  were  very  strongly  posted; 
and  Sherman  began  there  a  series  of  successful  flank 
movements.  When  he  menaced  the  flanks  of  the  Con 
federates  at  Dalton  by  seeking  a  passage  through  Snake 
Hill  Gap,  on  the  left,  the  insurgents  fell  back  to  a  point 
near  Resaca  Station  at  the  Oostenaula  River,  on  the  line 
of  the  railway  between  Chattanooga  and  Atlanta.  At 
that  place  a  sharp  battle  occurred  on  the  i5th  of  May, 
when  the  Confederates  were  driven  across  the  Oostenaula. 
Johnston  fired  the  bridge  that  spanned  that  stream,  cutting 
off  direct  pursuitimmediately.  Generals  Thomas,  Hooker, 
McPherson,  Schofield,  and  other  noted  leaders  were  en 
gaged  in  the  fight ;  and  as  soon  as  a  temporary  bridge  was  constructed,  the  next  morning,-  Thomas  pursued 
Hardee  (who  covered  the  retreat)  directly,  while  McPherson  and  Schofield  kept  on  their  flanks.  The 
Confederates  fled  from  post  to  post,  burning  bridges  behind  them,  until  they  reached  a  mountainous 
region  covering  the  Allatoona  Pass.  There  Johnston  halted,  with  the  Etowah  River  between  his  troops 
and  the  National  forces;  and  then  both  armies  took  a  brief  rest. 

These  flanking  movements  had  resulted  so  favorably  to  the  Nationals,  that  Sherman  resolved 
to  pursue  them.  He  determined  to  flank  Johnston  out  of  his  strong  position  at  Allatoona  Pass, 
by  concentrating  his  forces  at  Dallas,  westward  of  him.  In  attempting  to  thwart  this  movement, 
the  Confederates  brought  on  an  engagement  near  Dallas,  on  the  2 5th  of  May.  The  battle  was 
indecisive,  and  was  followed  by  a  very  stormy  night,  during  which  Johnston's  men  used  the  pick-axe 
and  spade  so  industriously  that  by  morning  Sherman  found  his  antagonist  strongly  intrenched,  with 
lines  extending  from  Dallas  to  Marietta.  Between  these  towns  was  a  broken,  wooded  country,  and 
in  that  region  there  was  much  severe  fighting  for  several  days.  At  length  Johnston  was  compelled  to 
evacuate  Allatoona  Pass  (June  i,  1864),  when  it  was  garrisoned  by  Sherman  and  made  his  second  base  of 
supplies,  the  first  being  at  Chattanooga.  The  burned  bridges  were  rebuilt  and  well  guarded,  and  full 
possession  of  the  railway  in  his  rear  was  obtained  by  Sherman.  At  Allatoona  he  was  reinforced  on  the 
8th  by  troops  under  General  Frank  Blair,  which  made  his  number  of  effective  men  nearly  what  it  was 
when  he  moved  from  Chattanooga. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

The  Armies  at  Marietta — Death  of  Bishop  Polk — Hood  in  Command — Battles  around 
Atlanta — Thomas  Sent  to  Nashville — Hood  Chased  into  Alabama — Sherman's  March 
to  the  !5ea — Evaeuation  of  Savannah — Events  in  Florida  and  North  Carolina — Invasion 
of  Tennessee — Hood's  Defeats  and  Escape — Confederate  Cruisers — Capture  of  the 
"Alabama" — Farragut  near  Mobik — Election  of  President — Sherman  in  the  Carolinas — 
Evacuation  of  Charleston — Grierson's  Raid — Capture  of  Fort  Fisher — Battles  at  Averys- 
boro'and  Bentonville — Wilson's  Raid — Capture  of  Mobile — Operations  Below  Petersburg 
— Sheridan's  Raid — Lee's  Attempt  to  Escape — Stoneman's  Raid — Movements  for  Peace. 

SOON  after  evacuating  Allatoona  Pass,  General  Johnston  was  com 
pelled  to  abandon  other  posts  before  the  approach  of  Sherman's 
strengthened  army.     The  latter  pressed  vigorously  forward  toward 
the  Kenesaw  Mountains  that  overlook  Marietta.     Around  these  great 
hills  and  upon  their  slopes  and  summits,  and  also  upon  Lost  and  Pine 
Mountains,   the  Confederates  had  cast  up  intrenchments  and  planted 


GENERAL  E.  KIRHY  SMITH,  C.  S.  A. 


Copyright,  180.~>,  by  CHARLES  F.  JDHNSON.     Copyright.  1!)()5.  by  LOSSING  HISTORY  COMPANY.     Copyright.  1012,  by  THE  WAR  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION,  INC. 


•1     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


MAJOR-GENERAL  GEORGE  G.  MEADE  AND  STAFF. 


GENERALS  GEO.  A.  CUSTER  AND  ALFRED  PLEASOXTON 


388 


.1    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  CUSTER,  WITH  LIEUTENANT  WASHINGTON, 
A  CONFEDERATE  PRISONER. 


signal  stations;  but  after  a  desperate  struggle — fighting  battle  after  battle  for  the  space  of  about  a  month, 
while  rain  was  falling  copiously  almost  without  intermission — the  Confederates  were  forced  to  leave  all 
these  strong  positions.  They  fled  toward  the  Chattahoochee  River,  in  the  direction  of  Atlanta,  closely 
pursued  by  the  Nationals.  One  of  their  corps  com 
manders  (Bishop  Polk)  had  been  instantly  killed  by  a 
shell  on  the  summit  of  Pine  Mountain,  and  the  insurgent 
armies  had  suffered  fearful  losses  in  that  terrible  struggle. 
So  persistently  did  Johnston  dispute  the  way  from  Dalton, 
in  northern  Georgia,  to  Atlanta,  that  when  he  reached  the 
intrenchments  at  the  latter  place,  he  had  lost  nearly  one- 
fourth  of  his  army. 

When,  on  the  evening  of  July  2d,  Sherman's  cavalry 
threatened  Johnston's  flanks  and  menaced  the  ferry  of  the 
Chattahoochee,  the  Confederates  abandoned  the  Great 
Kenesaw  and  fled;  and  at  dawn  the  next  morning,  when 
National  skirmishers  planted  the  Stars  and  Stripes  over  the 
Confederate  battery  on  the  summit  of  that  eminence,  they 
saw  the  hosts  of  their  enemies  flying  in  hot  haste  toward 
Atlanta.  At  eight  o'clock  Sherman  rode  into  Marietta,  a 
conqueror,  close  upon  the  heels  of  Johnston's  army.  He 
hoped  to  strike  the  Confederates  a  fatal  blow  while  they 
were  crossing  the  Chattahoochee;  but  Johnston,  by  quick 
and  skillful  movements,  passed  that  stream  without  mo 
lestation,  and  made  a  stand  along  the  line  of  it.  General 
Howard  laid  a  pontoon  bridge  two  miles  above  the  ferry 
where  Johnston  had  crossed,  and  at  the  same  time  there  was  a  general  movement  of  Sherman's  forces  all 
along  his  line.  The  imperilled  Confederates  were  compelled  to  abandon  the  works  which  they  had  thrown 
up  near  the  Chattahoochee,  and  retreat  to  a  new  line  that  covered  Atlanta,  their  left  resting  on  the 
Chattahoochee  and  their  right  on  Peach  Tree  Creek.  Now,  toward  the  middle  of  July,  the  two  armies 
rested;  and  Johnston,  an  able  and  judicious  leader,  was  succeeded  by  General  J.  B.  Hood,  of  Texas,  a 
dashing  and  less  cautious  officer  than  his  predecessor.  At  that  time  (July  10),  or  sixty-five  days  after 
Sherman  put  his  army  in  motion  southward,  he  wras  master  of  the  whole  country  north  and  west  of  the 
river  on  the  banks  of  which  he  was  resting  (or  nearly  one-half  of  Georgia),  and  had  accomplished  one  of 
the  major  objects  of  the  campaign,  namely,  the  advancement  of  the  National  lines  from  the  Tennessee 
to  the  Chattahoochee. 

The  possession  of  Atlanta,  the  key-point  of  military  advantage  in  the  campaign  in  that  region,  was 
the  next  prize  to  be  contended  for.  The  Nationals  advanced  at  a  little  past  the  middle  of  July,  destroying 
railways  and  skirmishing  bravely;  and  on  the  2oth  the  Confederates,  led  by  Hood  in  person,  fell  upon 

the  corps  of  Howard,  Hooker  and  Palmer,  with  heavy  force.  The  assail 
ants  were  repulsed  after  a  sharp  battle,  in  which  both  parties  suffered 
severely. 

There  were  now  indications  that  Hood  intended  to  evacuate  Atlanta, 
when  the  Nationals  moved  rapidly  toward  the  city,  encountering  strong 
intrenchments.  Before  these  a  part  of  Hood's  army  held  their  antag 
onists;  while  the  main  body,  led  by  General  Hardee,  made  a  long  night 
march,  gained  the  rear  of  Sherman's  forces  on  the  morning  of  the  22d  of 
July,  and  fell  upon  them  with  crushing  weight  of  numbers  that  day.  A 
terrific  battle  ensued,  lasting  many  hours;  and  after  a  brief  interval,  one 
still  more  sanguinary  was  begun,  which  resulted  in  victory  for  the  Na 
tionals  and  the  retreat  of  the  Confederates  to  their  works.  During  that 
day,  General  McPherson,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  Army  of  the  Ten 
nessee,  wrhile  reconnoitering  in  a  wood,  was  shot  dead  by  a  Confederate 
sharp-shooter  (Major  McPherson) ;  and  General  Logan  took  his  place  in 
command.  Yet  another  sanguinary  battle  was  fought  on  the  28th  of 
July,  before  Atlanta,  when  the  Confederates  were  again  driven  to  their 
lines,  with  heavy  losses;  and  from  that  time  until  the  close  of  August, 
hostilities  in  that  region  were  confined,  chiefly,  to  raids  upon  railways 


GENERAL  GEO.  A.  CUSTER. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


389 


.   v-j  CONfEDERATE.  OBSTRUCTIONS 


i-il*-- 


CONFEDERATE  OBSTRUCTIONS 
RIVER  ,  _ 

BLUFF, 


FEDERAL  OBSTRUCTIONS 
IN  TKEUT'S  BEACH, 
JAMES 


SUNK  IN  JAH15 
ABOVE. 


DKEWRY'S  BLUFF  AND  OTHER  SCENES. 


3!H> 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  P  G.  T.  BEAUREGARD,  C.  S.  A. 


and  the  interruption  of  the  communications  of  each  army  with  its  supplies.  Finally,  on  the  ^ist  of 
August,  the  forces  of  Howard  and  Hardee  had  a  severe  battle  at  Joneshoro',  twenty  miles  below  Atlanta, 
in  which  the  Confederates  were  defeated.  When  Hood  heard  of  this  disaster,  he  perceived  his  peril,  and 

blowing  up  his  magazine  at  Atlanta,  formed  a  junction  with  Hardee,  and 
with  his  whole  army  soon  recrossed  the  Chattahoochee.  By  his  rash  acts, 
Hood  had  wasted  nearly  one-half  of  his  infantry  in  the  space  of  a  few 
weeks.  The  Nationals  entered  Atlanta  on  the  26.  of  September,  1864. 

The  chief  object  of  the  Southern  campaign  was  now  in  possession  of 
the  National  forces.  Much  of  September  was  passed  in  the  reorganiza 
tion  of  the  two  armies,  wTith  the  Chattahoochee  separating  them.  Satis 
fied  that  Hood  was  preparing  to  attempt  the  seizure  of  Tennessee, 
Sherman  sent  General  Thomas  to  Nashville  to  organize  new  troops  that 
were  to  be  concentrated  there.  Meanwhile  Hood  had  planned  and 
attempted  the  seizure  of  stores  at  Allatoona  Pass,  but  had  been  foiled. 
Sherman  started  after  him  and  chased  him  into  northern  Alabama,  and 
there  relinquishing  the  pursuit,  returned  to  Atlanta,  destroying  the  rail 
way  behind  him. 

Late  in  October,  Sherman  prepared  for  his  famous  march  from 
Atlanta  to  the  sea.  To  General  Thomas  he  assigned  the  absolute  com 
mand  of  a  large  portion  of  his  army,  cut  loose  from  all  communications 
with  the  North,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  i_|.th  of  November  marched 
from  Atlanta  with  sixty-five  thousand  men,  in  two  columns,  commanded 
respectively  by  Generals  Howard  and  Slocum,  preceded  by  General 

Kilpatrick  with  five  thousand  cavalry.  The  army  subsisted  off  the  country,  wherein  they  found  ample 
supplies.  They  also  met  with  very  little  opposition  in  its  march  of  thirty-six  days  through  the  heart  of 
Georgia.  It  was  a  military  promenade,  requiring  very  little  military  skill  in  the  performance,  and  as 
little  personal  prowess.  Finally,  as  the  Nationals  approached  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  they  attacked  and 
captured  Fort  McAllister,  on  the  Ogeechee  River.  That  was  on  the  i3th  of  December;  and  four  days 
afterward,  the  army  being  before  Savannah,  Sherman  demanded  its  surrender.  Hardee  was  there  with 
fifteen  thousand  men,  and  on  the  2oth  (December,  1864)  they  evacuated  the  city  and  fled  to  Charleston. 
On  the  following  day,  Sherman  entered  the  city  in  triumph.  By  his  march  through  Georgia,  he  had 
discovered  that  the  Confederacy  was  a  mere  shell  in  that  region.  Here  we  will  leave  him,  and  consider 
events  elsewhere. 

Early  in  1864,  intimations  came  from  Florida  that  its  citizens  desired  reunion  with  the  National 
Government,  but  were  hindered  by  Confederate  troops  there,  led  by  General  Finnegan.  General  Gillmore, 
then  holding  Charleston  tightly  in  his  grasp,  sent  General  Truman  Seymour  to  assist  the  Floridians.  At 
the  head  of  six  thousand  troops,  Seymour  went  up  the  St.  John's  River,  drove  the  Confederates  from 
Jacksonville,  and  pursued  them  into  the  interior.  In  the  heart  of  a  cypress  swamp  at  Olustee  Station, 
on  a  railway  that  crossed  the  Peninsula,  Seymour  encountered  Finnegan 
strongly  posted.  A  sharp  battle  occurred  on  the  2oth  of  February 
(1864),  when  the  Nationals  were  repulsed  and  retreated  to  Jacksonville, 
destroying  Confederate  stores  valued  at  $1,000,000.  At  about  the  same 
time,  Admiral  Bailey  destroyed  Confederate  salt-works  on  the  coast  of 
Florida,  valued  at  $3,000,000. 

In  the  spring  of  1864,  some  stirring  events  occurred  on  the  coast  of 
North  Carolina,  the  most  notable  of  which  was  the  capture  of  Plymouth 
(April  17),  near  the  mouth  of  the  Roanoke  River,  with  sixteen  hundred 
National  troops,  by  the  Confederate  General  Hoke.  The  Union  troops 
were  commanded  by  General  Wessels.  Hoke  was  assisted  by  the  Albc- 
marlc,  a  powerful  "ram."  This  vessel  well  guarded  these  waters  for 
several  months,  when,  on  the  night  of  the  27th  of  October,  it  was 
destroyed  with  a  torpedo  by  Lieutenant  Gushing  of  the  National  navy. 
The  night  was  intensely  dark.  Gushing,  with  thirteen  men,  went  into 
Plymouth  harbor  in  a  boat,  with  a  torpedo,  and  made  for  the  "ram" 
through  a  barricade  of  logs.  When  they  were  within  twenty  yards  of 
the  "ram,"  they  were  discovered;  but  in  the  face  of  a  terrible  shower 
of  bullets,  they  thrust  the  torpedo  under  the  Albemarlc,  and  it  exploded 


GENERAL  JUHAL  A.  EARLY,  C\  S.  A. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


391 


IN  THE  TREXCHES  AT  PETERSBURG 


SCEXliS   XKAR   PETERSBURG. 


302 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


ADMIRAL  DAVID  B.  PORTER,  U.  S.  N 


with  fatal  effect.  At  that  moment,  a  bolt  from  the  "ram"  went  crashing  through  Cushing's  boat.  He 
and  his  men  leaped  into  the  water ;  but  only  himself  and  another  escaped  death  from  bullets  and  drowning, 
and  were  saved  on  a  cutter  that  accompanied  the  torpedo  boat.  After  that  the  war  in  that  region  consisted 
chiefly  of  skirmishes  between  detachments  of  the  two  armies.  Gillmorc's 
guns  kept  watch  and  ward  over  Charleston,  while  he  and  some  of  his 
troops,  as  we  have  observed,  went  to  the  James  River. 

General  Hood,  according  to  Sherman's  expectations,  pushed  across 
the  Tennessee  River,  near  Florence,  preceded  by  Forrest  and  his  cavalry, 
who  raided  in  lower  Tennessee  for  some  time,  eluding  National  troops 
sent  against  him.  He  co-operated  with  Hood's  army  after  its  passage  of 
the  river,  late  in  October;  and  at  Johnsville,  on  the  Tennessee,  he 
destroyed  National  stores  valued  at  $1,500,000.  Hood  had  been  rein 
forced  by  General  Taylor,  from  Louisiana,  and  pushed  vigorously  on 
toward  Nashville  with  fifty  thousand  troops.  General  Thomas  was  at 
that  place  with  twenty  thousand  troops;  and  he  had  as  many  more  under 
his  command  scattered  over  Tennessee  and  northern  Alabama,  in  active 
service  against  the  invading  army. 

General  Schofield,  who  had  advanced  to  the  Duck  River,  first  en 
countered  Hood,  and  fell  back  gradually  to  Franklin,  where  he  took  a 
stand  on  the  3oth  of  November,  and  cast  up  intrenchments.  His  chief 
care  had  been  to  impede  the  march  of  the  invaders,  and  to  cover  his  train 
until  it  should  reach  Nashville.  Hood  came  up  in  the  afternoon  of  that 
day  and  a  desperate  battle  was  fought,  which  raged  until  near  midnight. 

At  the  first  onset,  the  Confederates  drove  the  Nationals  from  their  works  and  captured  all  their  guns; 
but  in  a  gallant  counter-charge,  all  that  the  latter  had  lost  were  recovered,  with  ten  battle-flags  and  three 
hundred  captive  insurgents  as  trophies  of  victory.  Hood  had  lost  one-sixth  of  his  available  force  in  the 
struggle.  Schofield  retreated  to  Nashville,  with  all  his  guns,  closely  pursued  by  Hood,  who  invested  that 
post  with  forty  thousand  men  at  the  beginning  of  December. 

In  the  meantime,  General  Thomas  had  been  reinforced  by  troops  under  General  A.  J.  Smith,  who 
had  been  driving  Price  out  of  Missouri.  Hood's  cavalry  was  superior  to  that  of  Thomas  in  numbers,  and 
the  latter  kept  the  invaders  in  front  of  Nashville  as  long  as  possible,  to  enable  him  to  collect  there, horses 
and  means  for  transportation.  Finally,  at  the  middle  of  December,  the  Nationals  moved  upon  the 
Confederates.  The  Fourth  corps,  led  by  General  T.  J.  Wood,  attacked  them  vigorously  and  drove  them 
back  to  the  foot  of  the  Harpeth  Hills.  The  next  day  (December  16)  the  same  troops  and  others  advanced, 
and  after  a  severe  battle,  the  invaders  were  sent  flying  southward  with  great  precipitation  and  much 
confusion,  and  were  closely  pursued  several  days,  Hood  turning  to  fight  occasionally.  At  the  close  of 
the  month,  Hood,  with  his  shattered  army  covered  by  Forrest's  cavalry,  escaped  across  the  Tennessee, 
and  he  became  no  longer  formidable.  In  the  course  of  four  months,  Thomas  had  made  eleven  thousand 

five  hundred  Confederate  prisoners  of  war,  and  captured  seventy-two 
pieces  of  artillery.  His  own  loss  was  about  ten  thousand  men,  or  less 
than  one-half  that  of  his  antagonists. 

At  the  beginning  of  1864,  Confederate  cruisers  on  the  ocean  had 
captured  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  American  merchant-ships,  whose 
aggregate  cargoes  were  valued  at  over  $13,400,000.  We  have  already 
noticed  the  depredations  of  the  Alabama.  Another  rover,  called  the 
Sumtcr,  after  a  short  but  destructive  career,  was  blockaded  and  sold  at 
Gibraltar,  early  in  1862.  The  Florida  and  Georgia,  both  built  in  Great 
Britain,  captured  and  destroyed  scores  of  ships;  and  in  1864,  British 
shipyards  furnished  three  other  formidable  cruisers  for  the  use  of  the 
Confederates,  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  the  American  minister 
(Charles  Francis  Adams)  in  London. 

The  Alabama  was  the  most  formidable  of  them  all.  She  was  com 
manded  by  Captain  Raphael  Semmes,  a  native  of  Maryland,  who  died  in 
August,  1877,  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  She  continued  her 
depredations  on  the  high  seas,  eluding  the  Government  vessels,  until  the 
igth  of  June,  1864,  when  she  encountered  the Kearsarge,  Captain  John  A. 
COMMODORE  T.  BAILEY,  U.  S.  N.  Winslow,  off  the  port  of  Cherbourg,  France.  They  fought  desperately 


A    HISTORY    OF     THE    CIVIL    WAR 


393 


CITY  OF  PETERSBURG.       VIEWS  TAKJ-:N  IN   11^05,   IMMICDIATKI.V  AFIKK  THE  CAPTURE. 


394 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


for  an  hour,  when  the  Alabama,  badly  bruised,  began  to  sink.  Her  flag  was  struck,  and  twenty  minutes 
afterward  she  went  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  leaving  her  commander  and  his  crew  struggling  for  life  in 
the  water.  At  that  moment  the  Dccrhound,  a  yacht,  with  its  owner  (an  English  gentleman)  and  his 
family,  appeared.  The  Englishman  sympathized  with  the  Confederates,  and  went  out  from  Cherbourg 
ostensibly  to  sec  the  contest,  but  really  to  bear  away  Semmes  and  his  officers  from  the  grasp  of  the  Nationals 
should  misfortune  befall  them.  These  officers,  with  a  few  of  the  crew,  were  rescued  by  the  yacht  and 
borne  in  safety  to  England,  where  the  commander  of  the  Alabama  was  honored  with  a  public  dinner  (at 
Southampton) ;  and  Admiral  Anson,  of  the  royal  navy,  headed  a  list  of  subscribers  to  a  fund  raised  for 
the  purchase  of  an  elegant  sword  to  be  presented  to  Semmes  as  a  token  of  sympathy  and  esteem.  The 
"common  people"  of  the  Alabama  were  saved  by  the  boats  of  her  antagonist,  and  some  French  vessels. 


INTERIOR  OF  FORT  AT  PETERSBURG 

The  news  of  Winslow's  victory  was  received  with  joy  by  the  friends  of  the  Government ;  and  it  was 
determined  to  close  the  ports  of  Wilmington  and  Mobile,  the  only  ones  open  to  blockade-runners.  For 
that  purpose  Admiral  Farragut  appeared  off  the  entrance  to  Mobile  (August  5,  1864)  with  a  fleet  of 
eighteen  vessels,  four  of  them  iron-clads.  Five  thousand  troops  under  General  Gordon  Granger  had  been 
sent  by  General  Canby  from  New  Orleans,  to  co-operate  with  the  fleet.  The  latter  (the  wooden  vessels 
lashed  together  in  couples)  sailed  in  between  the  two  forts  that  guarded  the  entrance — Fort  Morgan  on 
the  main  and  Fort  Gaines  on  Dauphin  Island.  In  order  to  have  a  general  oversight  of  all  the  movements, 
the  admiral  was  fast-bound  to  the  rigging  at  the  maintop  of  his  flag-ship  (Hartford),  that  he  might  not 
be  dislodged  by  the  shock  of  battle.  Through  a  tube  extending  from  his  lofty  position  to  the  deck,  he 
gave  orders  clearly  in  the  midst  of  the  uproar  of  battle;  and  in  that  perilous  situation  he  remained  during 
the  passage  by  the  forts  and  the  severe  conflict  with  Confederate  vessels  that  followed.  In  that  passage 
one  of  his  iron-clad  gunboats  (Tccnmseh)  was  destroyed  by  a  torpedo,  but  the  rest  of  the  fleet  was  c~  '" 
slightly  bruised.  When  he  had  passed  the  forts,  a  formidable  "ram"  two  hundred  feet  long,  na 
Tennessee,  was  seen  coming  swiftly  down  the  bay  with  other  gunboats.  These  made  a  ferociou'- 
at  the  fleet;  but  after  a  sharp  conflict,  brief  and  decisive,  the  Tennessee  was  captured  and  victory  rei  .d 
with  the  Nationals. 

The  forts  were  now  attacked  by  land  and  water,  and  were  captured — Fort  Gaines  on  the  ;th  of 
August,  and  Fort  Morgan  on  the  23d.  With  these  were  surrendered  one  hundred  great  guns  and  over 
fourteen  hundred  men.  The  port  of  Mobile  was  effectually  closed,  and  vigorous  measures  were  adopted 
for  ending  the  war.  On  the  3d  of  September  the  President  called  for  three  hundred  thousand  men  to 
reinforce  the  armies  in  the  field.  A  most  cheerful  response  was  made;  and  in  view  of  omens  of  peace  in 
the  near  future,  the  President  issued  a  request  that  the  people  should,  in  their  respective  places  of  public 
worship,  on  a  specified  Sabbath-day,  offer  united  thanksgivings  to  God  for  his  blessings. 

In  the  fall  of  1864,  a  very  exciting  canvass  for  the  election  of  President  of  the  Republic  occurred. 
President  Lincoln  had  been  nominated  by  the  Republicans,  with  Andrew  Johnson  of  Tennessee  for  Yice- 
President.  The  Democrats  nominated  General  George  B.  McClellan  of  the  army  for  President,  and 
George  H.  Pendleton  of  Ohio  for  Vice-President.  The  sentiments  of  the  Peace-Faction  prevailed  among 
the  adherents  of  McClellan  and  Pendleton,  and  they  had  the  support  of  all  the  sympathizers  with  the 
Confederates,  in  the  free-labor  States.  The  consequence  was  that  only  one  of  these  States  (New  Jersey) 


HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


395 


MORTAR  ON  FLAT  CAR,  MILITARY  RAILROAD,  PETERSBURG 


Mol'NTINCJ    MoKTAKS,    BuTLER's    LlNKS,    PETERSBURG 


300 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  E.  O.  C.  ORD 


gave  them  the  electoral  vote,  and  Lincoln  and  Johnson,  supported  by  the  loyal  people,  were  chosen  by 
an  unprecedented  majority. 

We  left  General  Sherman  and  his  army  at  Savannah.  After  resting  for  about  a  month,  they  began 
a  rapid  march  through  South  Carolina,  in  widely  separated  columns,  and  so  distracted  the  Confederates 

that  they  did  not  concentrate  a  large  body  of  troops  anywhere.  Inces 
sant  rains  flooded  the  country,  and  the  swamp-lands  were  overflowed; 
but  Sherman  pressed  forward  toward  Columbia,  the  capital  of  the  State, 
and  captured  it  on  the  iyth  of  February,  1865.  This  disaster  caused  the 
Confederates  to  evacuate  Charleston.  Hardee  and  his  troops  fled  into 
North  Carolina  and  joined  the  forces  there,  commanded  by  General 
Joseph  E.  Johnston.  Colored  troops  entered  the  abandoned  city  and  put 
out  the  fires  which  the  Confederates  had  kindled  when  they  fled.  A  few 
weeks  afterward,  on  the  anniversary  of  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter 
four  years  before,  Major  Anderson,  with  his  own  hand,  raised  over  the 
ruins  of  that  fortress  the  identical  Union  flag  which  he  had  carried  away 
from  it  in  April,  1861. 

Through  the  carelessness  or  folly  of  General  Wade  Hampton,  who 
commanded  the  rear-guard  at  the  evacuation  of  Columbus,  the  city  was 
set  on  fire  and  a  large  part  of  it  was  laid  in  ashes.  Sherman  soon  passed 
on  to  Fayetteville,  in  North  Carolina,  which  place  he  reached  on  the  i2th 
of  March,  leaving  behind  him  a  blackened  path  of  desolation,  forty  miles 
in  width.  Most  of  the  fighting  on  that  march  was  done  by  the  cavalry 
of  Kilpatrick  and  Wheeler.  From  Fayetteville  Sherman  communicated 
with  General  Schofield,  who  was  in  command  on  the  coast ;  and  finding 
Johnston  in  front  of  him  with  forty  thousand  troops,  he  rested  his  army 
a  few  days. 

At  near  the  close  of  1864,  when  Sherman  was  approaching  the  sea  from  Atlanta,  a  destructive  raid 
through  Northern  Mississippi  was  made  by  General  Grierson  with  twenty-five  hundred  well-mounted 
men.  He  left  Memphis  on  the  2ist  of  December,  and  pushed  forward  to  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railway, 
which  he  struck  at  Tupelo  and  destroyed  all  the  way  to  Okolona,  burning  Confederate  stores  and  alarming 
the  whole  country.  After  a  successful  contest  at  Okolona,  Grierson  went  westward,  distracting  his  foes 
by  feints.  He  struck  the  Mississippi  Central  Railroad  at  Winona  Station,  and  after  several  skirmishes 
he  made  his  way  to  Vicksburg  with  trophies  consisting  of  five  hundred  prisoners,  eight  hundred  beeves, 
and  a  thousand  liberated  slaves.  During  this  raid  Grierson  destroyed  ninety-five  railway  cars,  three 
hundred  wagons  and  thirty  full  warehouses. 

It  was  late  in  1864  when  an  attempt  was  made  to  close  the  port  of  Wilmington  by  the  capture  of  Fort 
Fisher,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  River.  The  expedition  sent  against  that  post  was  composed  of  a 
powerful  fleet  of  war-vessels  commanded  by  Admiral  D.  D.  Porter,  and  land  troops  under  the  immediate 
command  of  General  Godfrey  Wcitzel,  accompanied  by  General  B.  F.  Butler,  who  was  in  charge  of  the 
department  whence  the  troops  were  taken.  The  attempt  (December  25,  1864),  was  unsuccessful;  but 
another  made  in  February  following,  by  the  same  fleet,  and  land  troops  led  by  General  Alfred  H.  Terry, 
resulted  in  the  capture  of  the  fort  and  garrison  on  the  i5th  of  that  month.  Terry  was  then  joined  by 
Schofield,  who,  being  the  senior  officer,  took  the  chief  command.  The  fleet  destroyed  two  Anglo-Con 
federate  cruisers  lying  in  the  Cape  Fear  River,  and  the  National  army  entered  Wilmington  as  victors  on 
the  22d  of  February. 

Sherman's  rest  at  Fayetteville  lasted  only  three  days.  Then  he  moved  his  army  forward  in  another 
distracting  march  that  puzzled  his  antagonists.  On  the  i6th  of  March,  while  moving  eastward  toward 
Goldsboro',  his  troops  fought  twenty  thousand  Confederates  under  General  Hardee,  at  Averysboro',  and 
defeated  them.  Two  days  afterward,  a  part  of  the  army  under  General  Slocum  were  attacked  by  the 
whole  of  Johnston's  forces,  near  Bentonville.  The  conflict  was  terrible.  Sherman's  army  had  been 
surprised,  and  nothing  but  the  most  desperate  efforts  saved  it  from  destruction.  It  received  six  distinct 
assaults  by  the  combined  forces  of  Hoke,  Hardee  and  Chcatham,  under  the  immediate  command  of 
General  Johnston  himself.  The  conflict  ended  at  twilight.  It  had  been  conducted  chiefly  by  General 
Jefferson  C.  Davis,  of  the  Fourteenth  Army  Corps.  Had  the  battle  been  lost  by  the  Nationals,  the  results 
might  have  been  most  disastrous  to  the  Union  cause.  Sherman's  army  might  have  been  annihilated ; 
so,  also,  might  Grant's,  at  Petersburg,  and  the  struggle  would  have  been  prolonged.  It  was  won  by  the 
army  of  the  Republic,  and  its  enemies  retreated  hastilv  toward  Raleigh,  the  capital  of  North  Carolina. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


397 


SCENES  AT  CHICASAW  BLUFFS 


Burnett's  House  nearco/d  Harbor 


Collecting -remains 'oft/w 
on  tfn  >  fdMef/P/d  ef-coid  Harbor 
months  a  ffef  the 


in  the  woods  at  Cold  Harbor 


Old  Church  Motel  oar  (o/d  Harbor    PMoord/Ms  Q/npdt  (oklk  drbor    /I,  rt  of  Brft/e field  oj- 

SciiNics  AT  COLD   HAKIIOK 


o'JS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  DAVID  A.  RUSSKI.L 


Sherman  was  joined  by  Schofield  and  Terry  at  Goldsboro',  when  he  hastened  to  City  Point  on  the  James 
River,  by  water,  and  there  consulted  the  President  and  General  Grant  about  future  operations.  He  was 
back  to  his  army  three  days  after  he  left  it. 

After  the  sealing  of  Mobile  harbor,  arrangements  were  made  for  the  capture  of  that  city  and  gaining 
possession  of  Alabama.  General  Canby,  in  command  of  the  Department 
of  the  Gulf,  moved  twenty-five  thousand  troops  against  Mobile,  in 
March,  1865.  At  the  same  time  General  Wilson,  of  Thomas's  army, 
with  thirteen  thousand  horsemen  and  about  two  thousand  foot-soldiers, 
swept  down  from  the  Tennessee  to  co-operate  with  Canby.  In  the 
space  of  thirty  days,  Wilson  raided  six  hundred  and  fifty  miles  through 
Alabama  and  Georgia,  meeting  with  scarcely  any  opposition  but  from  For 
rest's  cavalry,  whom  he  kept  from  assisting  the  besieged  Confederates  at 
Mobile.  Wilson  captured  cities  and  towns  and  destroyed  an  immense 
amount  of  public  property.  Meanwhile  Canby  was  reducing  Mobile  to 
submission;  and  on  the  loth  and  nth  of  April,  General  Maury,  in  com 
mand  there,  fled  up  the  Alabama  River  with  nine  thousand  troops, 
leaving  five  thousand  men  as  prisoners,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  can 
non,  in  the  hands  of  the  victors.  The  war  was  now  virtually  at  an  end 
in  the  Gulf  region. 

During  the  winter  of  1864-65,  the  Annies  of  the  Potomac  and  of  the 
James  lay  in  comparative  quiet  in  front  of  Petersburg  and  Richmond, 
holding  the  Confederate  government  and  army  so  tightly  in  their  grasp 
that  the  latter  could  not  form  a  junction  with  Johnston's  forces,  nor 
interfere  with  Sherman's  and  Thomas's  operations  in  the  South  and  West. 

Early  in  December,  Mcade  had  sent  Warren  to  destroy  Lee's  means  of  transportation  of  supplies  over 
the  Weldon  Railway,  near  the  North  Carolina  line;  and  early  in  February  a  heavy  flanking  column, 
horse  and  foot,  stretched  across  that  road  beyond  the  Confederate  right,  to  Dinwiddie  Court-House, 
seeking  an  opportunity  to  turn  the  right  flank  of  Lee's  army.  Severe  struggles  ensued,  with  heavy  losses, 
and  resulted  in  the  permanent  extension  of  the  National  line  to  Hatcher's  Run,  and  the  railway  from 
City  Point  to  that  stream. 

Grant  now  prepared  to  make  a  general  and  vigorous  movement  against  Richmond;  and  late  in 
February,  he  ordered  General  Sheridan  to  destroy  all  communications  with  that  city  north  of  the  James 
River  and  to  seize  Lynchburg,  a  great  depot  of  Confederate  supplies.  That  officer  was  then  in  the 
Shenandoah  Valley.  With  Generals  Merritt  and  Custer,  he  left  Winchester  on  the  2  ;th,  with  ten  thousand 
men,  horse  and  foot;  went  up  the  Valley  to  Staunton,  scattering  Early's  forces  at  Waynesboro';  and 
crossed  the  Blue  Ridge  and  destroyed  the  railway  as  far  as  Charlottesville.  Lynchburg  was  evidently 
too  strong  for  him;  so  he  divided  his  troops  and  sent  one  party  to  break  up  the  railway  toward  that 
city,  and  the  other  to  disable  the  James  River  Canal,  by  which  large  supplies  of  provisions  entered  the 

Confederate  capital.  Then  Sheridan  passed  around  the  left  of  Lee's 
forces  and  joined  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  on  the  27th  of  March.  This 
destructive  raid  alarmed  Lee,  who  saw  that  the  salvation  of  his  army 
and  of  the  Confederacy  now  depended  upon  his  forming  a  junction  with 
Johnston's  forces  in  North  Carolina.  For  that  purpose  he  concentrated 
his  army  near  Grant's  centre,  in  front  of  Petersburg,  and  made  a  furious 
assault  (March  25,  1865)  upon  Fort  Steadman,  a  strong  point  in  the 
National  lines,  hoping  to  break  through  there ;  but  he  was  repulsed  with 
heavy  loss,  and  his  chances  for  reaching  North  Carolina  were  more 
remote  than  ever. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  preceding  winter,  General  Stoncman  and 
his  cavalry  had  made  a  campaign  in  southwestern  Virginia;  and  early 
in  February  that  commander  was  ordered  to  make  a  raid  into  South 
Carolina  in  aid  of  Sherman's  movements.  But  that  general  was  so  suc 
cessful  that  Stoneman's  help  was  not  needed,  and  he  was  directed  to 
march  eastward  and  destroy  the  Virginia  and  Tennessee  Railroad  as  tar 
toward  Lynchburg  as  possible.  When  this  was  done,  he  turned  south 
ward  and  struck  the  North  Carolina  Railway  between  Danville  and 
GENERAL  GEORGE  CROOK  Greensboro'.  Some  of  his  troops  penetrated  to  Salisbury,  where  the 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL 


WAR 


GENERALS  DAVIS,  GREGG,  SHERIDAN,  MERRITT,  TORBETT  AND  WILSON 


GENERAL  W.  S.  HANCOCK  AND  STAFF 


400 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  \V.  T.  SHERMAN 


Confederates  had  many  Union  prisoners.  There  they  destroyed  a  vast  amount  of  public  property;  but 
the  Union  prisoners  had  been  removed,  and  were  not  released.  Then  a  part  of  Stoneman's  force  destroyed 
(April  19)  by  fire  the  magnificent  railway  bridge,  eleven  hundred  feet  long,  of  the  South  Carolina  Railway, 

that  spanned  the  Catawba  River;  while  the  leader  and  the  main  body 
went  into  East  Tennessee.  During  this  raid,  the  National  cavalry  cap 
tured  six  thousand  prisoners,  thirty-one  pieces  of  artillery,  and  a  large 
number  of  small  arms. 

It  was  evident  in  the  early  spring  that  a  few  more  heavy  blows  would 
end  the  Confederacy  and  the  war.  Individuals  had  made  efforts  from 
time  to  time  to  secure  a  peace  without  conquering  the  enemies  of  the 
Republic  by  force  of  arms.  In  the  summer  of  1864,  the  late  Horace 
Greeley  made  such  an  attempt.  At  about  the  same  time,  two  other 
civilians  made  their  way  to  Richmond,  for  the  purpose;  and  at  near  the 
close  of  the  year  the  venerable  Maryland  politician,  the  late  Francis  P. 
Blair,  visited  the  Confederate  capital  on  the  same  errand.  He  conferred 
with  Jefferson  Davis,  who,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  him,  expressed  his 
willingness  to  ' '  renew  the  effort  to  enter  into  a  conference  with  a  view  to 
secure  peace  to  the  two  countries."  When  Mr.  Blair  communicated  the 
.  contents  of  this  letter  to  President  Lincoln,  the  latter  expressed  his  will 
ingness  to  receive  any  agent  of  the  Confederacy  to  confer,  with  a  view, 
he  said,  "to  securing  peace  for  the  people  of  our  common  country."  The 
latter  expression  showed  Davis  that  he  could  not  treat  for  peace  on  the 
basis  of  independence  for  the  Southern  States;  nevertheless,  so  loud  was  the  popular  clamor  for  peace, 
that  he  appointed  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  John  A.  Campbell,  and  R.  M.  T.  Hunter  commissioners,  who 
were  permitted  to  proceed  as  far  as  Hampton  Roads,  by  water,  but  were  not  allowed  to  land.  There 
they  were  met  by  President  Lincoln  and  Secretary  Seward.  The  President  assured  the  commissioners 
that  peace  might  be  secured  only  on  the  condition  of  absolute  submission,  everywhere  within  the  bounds 
of  the  Republic,  to  the  National  authority;  and  that  there  could  be  no  secession  from  the  position  taken 
on  the  subject  of  slavery.  He  told  them  that  Congress  had  just  adopted  an  amendment  to  the  National 
Constitution,  which  would  be  ratified  by  the  loyal  people,  for  the  prohibition  of  slavery  in  every  part 
of  the  Republic. 

The  conference  was  fruitless  except  in  obtaining  a  clearer  definition  of  the  views  of  the  Government 
and  the  Confederate  leaders.  The  result  was  very  unsatisfactory  to  the  latter.  At  a  large  public  meeting 
held  in  Richmond  on  the  5th  of  February,  Mr.  Davis,  speaking  in  reference  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  expression, 
"our  common  country,"  said:  "Sooner  than  we  should  be  united  again,  I  would  be  willing  to  yield  up 
everything  I  have  on  earth,  and,  if  it  were  possible,  would  sacrifice  my  life  a  thousand  times  before  I 
would  succumb."  And  at  a  great  war-meeting  held  on  the  gth,  at  which  R.  M.  T.  Hunter  presided,  it 
was  resolved  that  the  Confederates  would  never  lay  down  their  arms  until  their  independence  was  won. 
This  being  their  determination,  the  National  Government  had  no 
alternative,  and  was  compelled  to  prosecute  the  war  to  a  final 
dispersion  of  the  armed  forces  seeking  to  destroy  its  existence. 

The  confidence  assumed  by  Davis  and  his  associates  seems  to 
have  been  inspired  by  hopes  yet  entertained  of  receiving  foreign 
aid.  Henry  S.  Foote,  a  member  of  the  Confederate  Congress 
(once  United  States  Senator  from  Mississippi),  says  in  his  "War 
of  the  Rebellion":  "The  fact  was  well  known  to  me  that  Mr. 
Davis  and  his  friends  were  confidently  looking  for  foreign  aid, 
and  from  several  quarters.  It  was  stated,  in  my  hearing,  by 
several  special  friends  of  the  Confederate  president,  that  one  hun 
dred  thousand  French  soldiers  were  expected  to  arrive  within  the 
limits  of  the  Confederate  States,  by  way  of  Mexico ;  and  it  was 
more  than  rumored  that  a  secret  compact,  wholly  unauthorized  by 
the  Confederate  constitution,  with  certain  Polish  commissioners, 
who  had  lately  been  on  a  visit  to  Richmond,  had  been  effected, 
by  means  of  which  Mr.  Davis  would  now  be  supplied  with  some 

twenty  or  thirty  thousand  additional  troops,  then  refugees  from 

T-,  1      j          1  •       •  GENERAL  HOOD  s  C.  .S.  A.  HEADQUARTERS 

Poland,  and  sojourning  m  several  European  states,  which  would  vr  ATL-\NT\ 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


401 


•7  V          -* 


SCENES  AT  ATLANTA 


402 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


be  completely  at  the  command  of  the  president  for  any  purpose  whatever."  Mr.  Foote  adds,  in  that 
connection,  that  he  was  satisfied  that  Mr.  Davis  would,  in  sending  peace  commissioners,  "so  manacle 
their  hands  by  instructions,  as  to  render  impossible  all  attempts  at  successful  negotiation." 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

A  Desperate  Struggle  —  Battle  at  the  Five  Forks  —  Assault  on  Petersburg  —  Panic  in  Richmond  —  Flight  of  the  Confederate  Government  — 
Richmond  on  Fire  —  National  Troops  Enter  It  —  Trophies  and  Confederate  Archives  —  Rejoicings  —  Seward's  Speech  —  Evacuation 
of  Petersburg  —  Lee  Becomes  Despondent,  is  Defeated,  and  Surrenders  at  Appomattox  Court-House  —  Lincoln  in  Richmond  — 
Proclamation  of  Peace  —  Assassination  of  the  President  —  The  Assassin's  Fate  —  Johnson  President  —  A  Murderous  Plot  —  Proposal 
by  the  Confederate  Leader  Rejected  by  General  Johnston  —  Surrender  of  General  Johnston  and  Others  —  Capture  of  Jefferson  Davis 
-  —  Leniency  toward  Him. 


ATER  Lee's  effort  to  break  through  the  National  line  at  Fort  Steadman,  it  was  resolved  to  make 
a  grand  movement  against  the  Confederate  right.     Large  bodies  of  troops  were  drawn  from  the 
Army  of  the  James,  under  General  Ord.     General  Sheridan,  with  ten  thousand  horsemen,  was 
placed  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  National  arm}'.     The  Ninth  corps,  under  General  Parke,  and  the  force 
commanded  by  General  Weitzel,  were  left  on  the  north  side  of  the  James  to  hold  the  extended  line  of 


AU.ATOONA  PASS 

the  National  intrenchments,  then  full  thirty-five  miles  in  length;  :ind  General  Grant  gave  wide  discretion 
to  the  commander  on  the  left,  concerning  attacks  upon  the  Confederate  line  during  the  contemplated 
grand  movement.  "I  would  have  it  particularly  enjoined  upon  corps  commanders,"  he  said,  "that  in 
case  of  an  attack  from  the  enemy,  those  not  attacked  are  not  to  wait  for  orders  from  the  commanding 
officers  of  the  army  to  which  they  may  belong,  but  that  they  will  move  promptly,  and  notify  the  com 
mander  of  their  action."  General  Benham  was  in  charge  of  the  immense  depository  of  supplies  at  City 
Point. 

Two  days  after  Sheridan's  return  from  his  great  raid  at  the  close  of  March,  the  forward  movement 
was  begun.  Lee  perceived  his  own  imminent  peril;  and  leaving  Longstreet  with  eight  thousand  men 
to  protect  Richmond,  he  massed  the  remainder  of  his  army  at  the  point  of  most  apparent  danger.  Then 
began  a  fierce  and  desperate  struggle  for  the  mastery.  It  was  made  on  the  part  of  the  Nationals  chiefly 
by  the  Fifth  corps,  under  Warren,  with  the  co-operation  of  Sheridan.  The  latter,  holding  a  position 
called  the  Five  Forks,  was  struck  so  suddenly  and  severely  by  troops  under  Pickett  and  Bushrod  Johnson, 
that  his  force  was  driven  back  to  Dinwiddic  Court-House,  in  great  confusion,  hotly  pursued.  Warren 
was  sent  to  Sheridan's  aid;  and  near  Five  Forks  a  sanguinary  battle  was  fought  on  the  ist  of  April.  The 
Confederates  were  defeated  and  fled  westward  in  great  disorder,  leaving  five  thousand  of  their  comrades 
behind  as  prisoners  of  war.  Many  of  the  Confederates  perished  in  the  battle ;  and  the  loss  of  the  Nationals 
was  about  a  thousand  men. 

On  the  evening  of  the  battle  at  the  Five  Forks,  and  before  the  shouts  of  victory  there  had  reached 
the  National  line  before  Petersburg,  General  Grant  had  ordered  his  great  guns  all  along  that  line  to  open 
a  destructive  cannonade  upon  the  city  and  the  Confederate  works.  The  assault  was  kept  up  until  four 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


403 


N9  8. 


N?9. 


Fl-.DERAL    FORTS    AT    ATI, AM  A 


404 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


o'clock  in  the  morning.  It  was  an  awful  night  for  the  few  inhabitants  remaining  in  Petersburg,  and  for 
the  soldiers  in  the  trenches.  At  dawn  the  works  were  assailed  by  infantry.  Parke,  with  the  Ninth 
corps,  carried  the  outer  works  on  his  front,  but  was  checked  at  an  inner  line;  and  the  Nationals  were 
successful  on  their  extreme  left,  in  crushing  Lee's  right  wing.  Longstreet  had  hastened  down  from 
Richmond  to  assist  him,  but  he  was  too  late.  The  Confederate  right  was  shattered  beyond  recovery; 
and  the  Southside  Railway,  on  which  Lee  placed  great  dependence,  was  struck  by  Sheridan  at  three 
different  points. 

Lee  now  perceived  that  he  could  no  longer  hold  Petersburg,  or  the  capital,  with  safety  to  his  army, 
then  reduced,  by  enormous  losses  in  the  space  of  a  few  days,  to  about  thirty-five  thousand  men,  and  he 
resolved  to  maintain  his  position,  if  possible,  until  night,  and  then  retreat  with  the  hope  of  making  his 
way  to  Johnston,  in  North  Carolina,  by  way  of  the  Danville  railroad.  He  telegraphed  to  Davis  at 
Richmond,  in  substance:  "My  lines  are  broken  in  three  places;  Richmond  must  be  evacuated  this 
evening."  It  was  Sabbath  morning,  the  26.  of  April,  and  the  message  was  delivered  to  Davis  in  St. 
Paul's  Church.  He  quietly  left  the  fane  with  deeply  anxious  features,  and  for  a  moment  a  painful  silence 
prevailed.  The  religious  services  were  closed;  and  before  Dr.  Minnegerode,  the  rector,  dismissed  the 
congregation,  he  gave  notice  that  General  Ewell,  the  commander  in  Richmond,  desired  the  local  forces 

to  assemble  at  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon. 

For  hours  the  people  of  the 
city  were  kept  in  the  most  anxious 
suspense,  for  the  "government" 
was  as  silent  as  the  sphinx.  Panic 
gradually  took  the  place  of  judg 
ment;  and  when,  toward  evening, 
wagons  were  seen  a-loading  with 
trunks  and  boxes  at  the  depart 
ments,  and  were  driven  to  the  Dan 
ville  Railway  station,  and  it  be 
came  evident  that  Davis  and  his 
cabinet  were  preparing  to  flee,  the 
wildest  confusion  and  alarm  pre 
vailed.  Prominent  Confederates 
also  prepared  to  fly,  they  knew  not 
whither;  and  at  eight  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  Davis  abandoned  his 
capital  and  sought  personal  safety 
in  flight.  This  act  was  a  marked 
commentary  on  his  assertion  made 
in  a  speech  a  few  weeks  before :  "If 
it  were  possible,  I  would  be  willing  to  sacrifice  my  life  a  thousand  times  before  I  would  succumb."  His 
wife  had  fled  to  Danville  a  few  days  before,  and  there  awaited  his  coming.  At  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
the  Virginia  legislature  fled.  The  Confederate  congress  had  already  gone,  having  left  an  order  for  the 
cotton,  tobacco,  and  other  property  in  the  city,  to  be  burned.  At  midnight,  all  signs  of  a  "government " 
had  disappeared;  and  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  incendiary  fires  were  lighted.  There  was  a  fresh 
breeze  from  the  south,  and  very  soon  a  large  portion  of  the  chief  business  section  of  Richmond  was 
enveloped  in  flames.  Drunken  incendiaries  fired  buildings  not  in  the  pathway  of  the  great  conflagration ; 
and  until  dawn  the  city  was  a  pandemonium.  Most  of  the  Confederate  troops  had  fled ;  and  at  an  early 
hour  in  the  morning,  General  Weitzel,  in  command  of  the  forces  on  the  north  side  of  the  James,  entered 
Richmond  with  his  colored  regiments  and  put  out  the  fires.  Lieutenant  Johnston  Livingston  De  Peystcr, 
of  Weitzcl's  staff,  ascended  to  the  roof  of  the  Virginia  State-House  and  there  unfurled  the  National  Flag, 
where  it  had  not  been  seen  floating  for  four  years. 

Meanwhile,  Davis  and  his  associates  fled  to  Danville,  whither  Lee  hoped  to  follow.  They  had  left 
the  inhabitants  of  the  capital  defenceless  and  that  city  on  fire;  and  they  also  abandoned  five  thousand 
of  their  sick  and  wounded  in  the  hospitals,  and  a  thousand  soldiers,  to  become  prisoners  of  war.  They 
also  left,  as  trophies  for  the  victors,  five  hundred  pieces  of  artillery,  five  thousand  small  arms,  many 
locomotives  and  cars,  and  a  large  amount  of  other  public  property.  They  carried  with  them  what  gold 
they  could  seize  in  their  haste;  also  the  archives  of  the  Confederate  government,  together  with  their 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


405 


POTTER  HOUSE  AND  OTHER  SCENES,  AT  ATLANTA 


MOUNTAIN  AND  OIIII;R  SCENES 


406 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


great  seal  which  had  just  arrived  from  England,  but  which  was  never  stamped  upon  any  public  document. 
A  part  of  the  archives  were  captured  by  National  troops,  and  the  remainder  were  subsequently  sold  to 
our  Government  by  the  Confederate  ex-minister  to  Mexico. 

Tidings  of  the  fall  of  Richmond  went  over  the  land  on  that  memorable  3d  of  April,  1865,  and  produced 
great  joy  in  every  loyal  bosom.  Before  sunset  public  demonstrations  of  delight  and  satisfaction  were 
everywhere  visible.  At  the  National  Capital,  all  the  public  offices  were  closed,  and  all  business  among 
those  who  were  in  sympathy  with  the  Government  was  suspended.  There  was  an  immense  gathering 
of  people  in  Wall  street,  New  York,  on  that  day,  to  listen  to  the  voices  of  patriotic  orators;  and  from 
the  tower  of  Trinity  Church,  which  looks  down  upon  that  great  mart  of  money-changers,  the  bells  chimed 


PART  OF  BATTLEFIELD,  NEAR  ATLANTA 

music  in  airs  consonant  with  the  public  feeling.  The  people  lingered  long;  and  a  deep  religious  feeling, 
born  of  joy  and  gratitude,  pervaded  that  almost  innumerable  throng.  That  feeling  was  remarkably 
manifested  when  thousands  of  voices  joined  in  chanting  the  Christian  Doxology  to  the  grand  air  of  Old 
Hundred. 

In  Washington  city,  the  loyal  people  gathered  in  a  great  throng  and  visited  Mr.  Seward,  the  Secretary 
of  State.  They  called  for  a  speech,  when  he  appeared  and  said:  "I  am  now  about  writing  my  foreign 
despatches.  What  shall  I  tell  the  Emperor  of  China?  I  shall  thank  him,  in  your  name,  for  never  having 
permitted  a  piratical  flag  to  enter  a  harbor  of  the  empire.  What  shall  I  say  to  the  Sultan  of  Turkey? 
I  shall  thank  him  for  always  having  surrendered  rebel  insurgents  who  have  taken  refuge  in  his  kingdom. 
What  shall  I  say  to  the  Emperor  of  the  French  ?  I  shall  say  to  him  that  he  can  go  to  Richmond  to-morrow 
and  get  his  tobacco,  so  long  held  under  blockade  there,  provided  the  rebels  have  not  used  it  up.  To 
Lord  John  Russell,  I  will  say,  the  British  merchants  will  find  the  cotton  exported  from  our  ports,  under 
treaty  with  the  United  States,  cheaper  than  cotton  obtained  by  running  the  blockade.  As  for  Earl 
Russell  himself,  I  need  not  tell  him  that  this  is  a  war  for  freedom  and  national  independence,  and  the 
rights  of  human  nature,  and  not  a  war  for  empire;  and  if  Great  Britain  should  only  be  just  to  the  United 
States,  Canada  will  remain  undisturbed  by  us,  so  long  as  she  prefers  the  authority  of  the  noble  Queen 
to  voluntary  incorporation  in  the  United  States.  What  shall  I  tell  the  King  of  Prussia?  I  will  tell  him 
that  the  Germans  have  been  faithful  to  the  standard  of  the  Union,  as  his  excellent  minister,  Baron  Gerolt, 
has  been  constant  in  his  friendship  to  the  United  States  during  his  long  residence  in  this  country.  To 
the  Emperor  of  Austria,  I  shall  say  that  he  has  proved  himself  a  very  wise  man,  for  he  told  us  at  the 
beginning,  that  he  had  no  sympathy  with  the  rebels  anywhere."  In  these  few  words,  Secretary  Seward 
revealed  the  fact  that  while  Great  Britain  and  France — Christian  nations — were  assisting  the  enemies 
of  our  Republic  to  destroy  it,  Pagan  China  and  Mohammedan  Turkey,  animated  by  principles  of  right 
and  justice,  were  its  abiding  friends. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


407 


'     -,     "  . 

Wew  from  Confederate  Fort 
onPeddi  Trees': 


\/iew  of  Confederate  line. 


V/ewfiom  (bnfedertfe  fort;  /ootiind  east 


View  of  Con  fed  ew 


Views  from  ft  rape/-  of  Confederat 


CONFKDICRATK    FllRTS    AT    ATLANTA 


408 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


Lee,  after  he  had  advised  the  evacuation  of  Richmond,  perceiving  that  he  could  no  longer  hold 
Petersburg,  abandoned  it.  He  stole  away  so  silently  on  the  evening  of  the  2d,  that  the  suspicions  of  the 
Union  pickets  were  not  awakened;  and  when,  at  dawn,  it  was  discovered  that  the  intrenchments  of  the 
Confederates  in  front  of  Petersburg  had  been  abandoned,  Lee's  army  were  miles  away  to  the  westward, 
seeking  to  join  the  columns  at  Richmond,  in  a  flight  for  safety.  Lee  concentrated  his  broken  army  at 
Amelia  Court-House,  where  they  might  reach  the  Danville  Railway.  He  had  ordered  stores  to  be  sent 
from  Danville  to  that  point  for  the  use  of  his  army;  but  when,  on  Sunday  afternoon,  the  loaded  trains 
reached  Amelia  Court-House,  a  despatch  reached  the  officer  in  charge,  directing  him  to  continue  the 
train  on  to  Richmond  for  the  transportation  of  the  "government"  and  the  archives.  The  stupid  officer 


PART  OK  BATTLEFIELD,  NEAR  ATLANTA 

did  not  leave  the  supplies  at  Amelia,  but  took  them  on  to  Richmond,  and  they  were  there  destroyed  in 
the  conflagration.  This  was  a  fatal  mistake;  and  when  Lee  reached  Amelia  Court-House,  with  his  half- 
famished  army,  and  found  no  supplies  there,  hope  forsook  him,  for  his  plans  were  thwarted.  He  could 
not  move  on  for  want  of  provisions  and  forage ;  and  in  the  meantime,  Sheridan  gained  a  position  between 
the  Confederates  and  Lee's  avenue  of  escape.  For  several  days  the  latter  made  desperate  efforts  to 
break  through  the  National  line,  cavalry  and  infantry,  that  stood  across  his  path,  but  failed.  Finally, 
on  the  gth  of  April,  he  made  overtures  for  capitulation. 

On  the  yth,  Grant  had  written  a  note  to  Lee,  suggesting  that  the  events  of  the  past  week  should 
convince  him  of  the  hopelessness  of  further  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 
"I  feel  that  it  is  so,"  Grant  wrote,  "and  regard  it  as  my  duty  to  shift  from  myself  the  responsibility  of 
any  further  effusion  of  blood  by  asking  of  you  the  surrender  of  that  portion  of  the  Confederate  States 
army  known  as  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia."  To  this,  Lee  replied,  that  he  did  not  believe  further 
resistance  would  be  vain,  but  reciprocating  Grant's  desire  to  avoid  useless  effusion  of  blood,  he  said: 
"Before  considering  your  proposition,  I  ask  the  terms  you  will  offer  on  condition  of  its  surrender."  After 
dispatching  his  reply  to  Grant,  Lee  resumed  his  march  westward  toward  Lynchburg,  under  cover  of  the 
darkness.  He  hoped  to  escape  to  the  shelter  of  the  mountains  beyond  Lynchburg.  So  silent  was  hi:; 
retreat,  that  it  was  not  discovered  until  the  morning  of  the  8th,  when  the  National  army  pushed  on  in 
pursuit  of  the  fugitives. 

On  receiving  Lee's  answer,  the  lieutenant-general  replied:  "There  is  but  one  condition  I  would  insist 
upon,  namely,  that  the  men  and  officers  surrendered  shall  be  disqualified  for  taking  up  arms  against  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  until  properly  exchanged;"  and  he  proposed  to  meet  Lee  in  person, 
or  to  delegate  officers  for  the  purpose  of  definitely  arranging  the  terms  of  surrender. 

Hoping  to  escape,  after  his  uninterrupted  night  march,  Lee  sent  a  note  to  General  Grant,  saying  he 
did  not  propose  to  surrender.  "To  be  frank,"  he  said,  "I  do  not  think  the  emergency  has  arisen  to  call 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


409 


BUZZARD'S  ROOST,  AND  OTHER  VIEWS,  NEAR  ATLANTA 


VIKWS  OF  BATTLEFIELD  AT  RKSACA,  GA. 


410 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


for  the  surrender  of  this  army."  He  then  proposed  to  meet  Grant  on  the  morning  of  the  <;th  to  confer 
upon  the  subject  of  peace.  The  lieutenant-general  replied  that  he  had  no  authority  to  treat  on  the  topic 
of  peace,  and  that  a  meeting  for  such  a  purpose  would  be  useless.  "The  terms  upon  which  peace  can  be 
had,"  he  said,  "are  well  understood.  By  the  South  laying  down  their 
arms,  they  will  hasten  that  most  desirable  event,  save  thousands  of 
human  lives,  and  hundreds  of  millions  of  property  not  yet  destroyed." 
In  the  meantime  Sheridan  had  settled  the  question,  and  rendered  further 
parley  unnecessary.  He  stood  across  Lee's  path  on  the  morning  of  the 
9th,  near  Appomattox  Court-House.  The  latter  saw  that  his  only  hope 
of  escape  was  in  cutting  his  way  successfully  through  Sheridan's  line. 
This  he  attempted  at  daybreak  with  his  whole  army,  then  numbering  not 
more  than  ten  thousand  effective  men.  He  failed  again.  Appalled,  the 
Confederates  staggered  back,  and  displayed  a  white  flag  before  the  van 
of  the  troopers  of  General  Custer.  Then  Lee  wrote  to  Grant:  "I  re 
ceived  your  note  of  this  morning  on  the  picket-line,  whither  I  had  come 
to  meet  you,  and  ascertain  definitely  what  terms  were  embraced  in  your 
proposal  of  yesterday,  with  reference  to  the  surrender  of  this  army.  I 
now  ask  an  interview,  in  accordance  with  an  offer  contained  in  your  letter 
of  yesterday,  for  that  purpose." 

Grant  sent  Lee  word  that  he  assented  to  his  request,  and  arrange 
ments  were  made  for  an  interview  in  the  parlor  of  the  neat  brick  dwelling 
of  Wilmer  McLean  at  Appomattox  Court-House.  There,  at  two  o'clcck 

on  Palm-Sunday  (April  9,  1865),  the  two  commanders  met,  with  courteous  recognition.  General  Grant 
was  accompanied  by  his  chief  aide-de-camp,  Colonel  Parker,  a  great-nephew  of  the  celebrated  Seneca 
chief,  Red  Jacket;  General  Lee,  by  Colonel  Marshall,  his  adjutant-general,  a  great-grandson  of  Chief- 
Justice  Marshall  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  The  terms  of  surrender  were  discussed 
and  settled.  They  were  put  in  the  form  of  a  written  proposition  by  Grant,  and  a  written  acceptance  by 
Lee.  Having  been  engrossed,  they  were  signed  by  the  generals,  at  half-past  three  o'clock,  on  a  neat 
mahogany  centre-table,  with  a  marble  top. 

The  terms  prescribed  by  General  Grant  were  extremely  lenient  and  magnanimous,  considering  the 
circumstances.  They  required  Lee  and  his  men  to  give  their  parole  of  honor  that  they  would  not  take 
up  arms  against  their  Government  until  regularly  exchanged;  gave  to  the  officers  their  side-arms,  baggage 
and  private  horses;  and  pledged  the  faith  of  the  Government  that  they  should  not  be  punished  for  their 
treason  and  rebellion  so  long  as  they  should  respect  that  parole  and  be  obedient  to  the  laws.  Grant  even 
went  so  far,  in  his  generosity,  at  Lee's  suggestion,  that  he  gave  instructions  to  the  proper  officers  to  allow 
such  cavalrymen  of  the  Confederate  army  as  owned  their  horses  to  retain  them,  as  they  would,  he  said, 
need  them  for  tilling  their  farms. 

When  the  terms  of  surrender  were  agreed  upon,  the  Confederate  soldiers  were  provided  with  food 

from  the  National  stores;  and  on  Wednesday,  the  1 2th  of  April,  1865, they 
laid  down  their  arms.  Transportation  and  food  were  provided  by  the 
Government  to  large  numbers  of  the  troops  on  their  journey  homeward. 
The  number  paroled  was  about  twenty-five  thousand  men,  of  whom  not 
more  than  nine  thousand  men  had  arms  in  their  hands.  With  the  men 
were  surrendered  about  sixteen  thousand  small  arms,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pieces  of  artillery,  seventy-one  stand  of  colors,  about  eleven  hundred 
wagons  and  caissons,  and  four  thousand  horses  and  mules.  The  official 
announcement  of  the  great  victory  was  sent  over  the  land  with  the  speed 
of  lightning,  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  an  order  for  a  salute  of  two 
hundred  guns  at  the  headquarters  of  every  army. 

President  Lincoln  had  been  at  City  Point  and  vicinity,  for  several 
days  before  the  fall  of  Richmond,  anxiously  watching  the  current  of 
events.  On  the  day  after  the  Confederate  capital  was  evacuated,  he 
went  up  to  that  city  on  Admiral  Porter's  flag-ship,  the  Malvcm;  and 
while  on  his  way  to  Weitzel's  headquarters,  at  the  late  residence  of  Jeff 
erson  Davis,  he  was  saluted  with  the  loud  cheers  and  grateful  ejaculations 
of  a  vast  concourse  of  emancipated  slaves,  who  had  been  told  that  the 
"tall  man"  was  their  liberator.  On  the  day  of  Lee's  surrender,  he 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  E.  JOHNSTON,  C.  R.  A. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


411 


CONFEDERATE  DEFENCES  AT  ATLANTA 


CASEMENT  BATTERY,  CONFEDERATE  LINES,  NEAR  WHITE  HALL,  Two  MILES  SOUTHWEST  OF  ATLANTA 


412 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


DEAD  ON  BATTLEFIELD 


returned  to  Washington;  and  on  the  nth  he  issued  a  proclamation,  in  which  he  demanded,  henceforth, 
for  our  vessels  in  foreign  ports,  on  penalty  of  retaliation,  those  privileges  and  immunities  which  had 
hitherto  been  denied  them  on  the  plea  of  according  equal  belligerent  rights  to  the  Republic  and  its  internal 

enemies.  On  the  following  day  an  order  was  issued  from 
the  War  Department,  putting  an  end  to  all  drafting  and 
recruiting  for  the  National  army,  and  the  purchase  of 
munitions  of  war  and  supplies.  This  virtual  proclamation 
of  the  end  of  the  war  went  over  the  land  on  the  anniversary 
of  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter  (April  14),  while  General 
Anderson  was  replacing  the  old  flag  over  the  ruins  of  that 
fortress.  Preparations  were  a-making  for  a  National 
Thanksgiving,  and  the  beams  of  returning  peace  illumi 
nated  the  Republic,  so  to  speak,  when  suddenly  a  dark 
cloud  appeared  and  overspread  the  firmament  with  a 
gloomy  pall.  Before  midnight  the  telegraph  flashed  the 
sad  tidings  over  the  land  that  the  President  had  been 
assassinated!  He  was  sitting  in  a  theatre  (Ford's)  at 
Washington,  with  his  wife  and  friends,  when  John  Wilkes 
Booth,  an  actor  by  profession,  entered  his  box  stealthily 
and  shot  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  back  of  his  head  with  a  Der 
ringer  pistol.  The  assassin  then  rushed  to  the  front  of  the 

box  with  a  gleaming  dagger  in  his  hand,  and  shouted  "Sic  semper  tyrannic" — so  may  it  always  be  with 
tyrants — the  motto  on  the  seal  of  Virginia.  Then  he  leaped  upon  the  stage,  booted  and  spurred  for  a 
night  ride;  and  shouting  to  the  audience,  "  The  South  is  avenged!"  he  escaped  by  a  back  door,  mounted 
a  horse  that  was  in  readiness  for  him,  dashed  across  the  Anacosta  and  found  temporary  shelter  among 
sympathizing  Maryland  slaveholders.  Then  he  fled  into  Virginia,  where  he  was  overtaken  by  pursuers 
in  a  barn  below  Fredericksburg,  which  was  set  on  fire;  and  as  the  assassin  emerged  from' the  flames  he 
was  shot  by  a  sergeant  named  Boston  Corbett. 

The  President  expired  early  in  the  morning  of  the  i5th  of  April.  His  body  was  taken,  in  solemn 
procession,  to  his  home  in  Springfield,  Illinois,  by  way  of  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Albany 
and  western  cities,  everywhere  receiving  tokens  of  the  people's  love  and  grief.  Funeral  honors  were 
displayed  in  many  cities  in  the  land.  Six  hours  after  the  demise  of  the  Chief  Magistrate,  Andrew  Johnson, 
the  Vice-President,  who  was  his  constitutional  successor,  took  the  oath  of  office  as  President  of  the  United 
States,  administered  by  Chief-Justice  Chase. 

There  seems  to  be  a  warrant  for  the  belief,  that  the  assassination  of  the  President  was  only  a  part 
of  a  plan,  in  which  the  murder  of  the  cabinet  ministers,  General  Grant,  and  prominent  Republicans, 
was  contemplated;  for  on  the  same  evening  a  murderous  attack  was  made  upon  Secretary  Seward,  at 
his  own  house,  by  an  ex-Confederate  soldier.  Secretary  Stanton  was  absent  from  his  home,  and  was 
not  visited.  It  was  a  night  of  horrors  at  the  capital;  and  President  Johnson  issued  a  proclamation  early 
in  May,  signed  by  himself  and  Mr.  Hunter,  the  Assistant- 
Secretary  of  State,  in  which  he  declared  that  there  was 
"evidence  in  the  Bureau  of  Military  Justice"  that  there 
had  been  a  conspiracy  formed  by  "Jefferson  Davis,  Jacob 
Thompson,  Clement  C.  Clay,  Beverly  Tucker,  George  N. 
Saundcrs  and  William  C.  Cleary,  and  other  rebels  and 
traitors  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
harbored  in  Canada,"  to  assassinate  the  President  and 
Secretary  of  State;  and  he  offered  a  reward  of  $25,000 
apiece  for  their  arrest,  excepting  Cleary,  a  clerk,  for  whom 
$10,000  were  offered. 

With  the  surrender  of  General  Lee  at  Appomattox, 
the  war  was  virtually  ended.  But  only  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia  had  surrendered.  That  of  Johnston,  in 
North  Carolina,  and  smaller  bodies  elsewhere,  were  yet  in 
arms.  When  Sherman  heard  of  the  evacuation  of  Rich 
mond  and  Petersburg,  he  put  his  whole  army  in  motion 
and  moved  on  Johnston,  who  was  at  Smithfield,  on  the 


DEAD  ON  BATTLEFIELD 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    IV  A  R 


413 


te^'-  :- 

-'        ?  *  *,^:  '/ 


RUINS  OF  RAILROAD  AT  ATLANTA 


iir-f 


RAILROAD  AND  SHOPS  DESTROVKD  HV  CONFEUKRATKS  AT  ATLANTA 


414 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


LIEUTENANT  A.  B.  GUSHING 


Neuse  River,  with  full  thirty  thousand  men,  starting  at  daybreak  on  the  loth  of  April,  for  the  purpose 
of  striking  his  rear.  Johnston  had  just  heard  of  the  surrender  of  Lee,  and  retreated  through  Raleigh, 
and  along  the  course  of  the  railway  westward,  toward  Greensboro'.  At  the  same  time  Davis  and  his 

cabinet,  who  had  made  Danville  the  seat  of  the  Confederate  government 
for  a  few  days,  had  fled  from  that  place  to  Greensboro',  with  anxious 
solicitude  for  themselves  and  their  treasures.  They  had  proposed  to 
Johnston  that  he  should  disperse  his  army  excepting  two  or  three  bat 
teries  of  artillery,  and  as  many  infantry  as  he  could  mount,  and  with 
these  should  form  a  body-guard  for  the  "government,"  and  strike  for  the 
Mississippi  and  beyond,  with  Mexico  as  their  final  objective.  Johnston, 
a  man  of  honor,  spurned  this  base  and  selfish  proposal  to  desert  his  com- 
panions-in-arms  far  away  from  their  homes  and  unprovided  for,  and 
subject  the  people  in  the  region  where  the  army  would  be  disbanded  to 
the  sore  evils  of  plunder,  which  lawless  bands  of  starving  men  would 
engage  in.  Governed  by  the  principles  of  justice  and  humanity,  he  had 
the  moral  courage  to  do  his  duty  according  to  the  dictates  of  conscience, 
and  refused  to  fight  any  more  in  a  hopeless  cause.  He  stated  frankly  to 
the  people  of  his  military  department,  that  "war  could  no  longer  be  con 
tinued  by  them,  except  as  robbers,"  and  that  he  should  take  immediate 
steps  to  save  the  army  and  people  from  further  evil  and  to  "avoid  the 
crime  of  waging  a  hopeless  war."  On  the  26th  of  April,  Johnston,  and 
the  army  under  his  command,  excepting  a  body  of  cavalry  led  by  Wade 
Hampton,  surrendered  to  Sherman,  near  Durham  Station,  in  Orange  County,  North  Carolina,  on  the 
same  generous  terms  accorded  to  Lee  and  his  troops.  The  number  surrendered  and  paroled  was  about 
twenty-five  thousand,  with  one  hundred  and  eight  pieces  of  artillery,  and  about  fifteen  thousand  small 
arms.  The  whole  number  of  his  troops  present  and  elsewhere  was  seventy  thousand.  On  the  4th  of 
May,  General  Taylor  surrendered  the  Confederate  forces  in  Alabama  to  General  Canby;  at  Citronville; 
and  the  Confederate  navy  in  the  Tombigbee  River  was  surrendered  to  Admiral  Farragut  at  the  same 
time.  The  last  conflict  in  the  terrible  Civil  War  occurred  near  Brazos  Santiago,  in  Texas,  on  the  i3th 
of  May,  when  hostilities  entirely  ceased. 

Jefferson  Davis,  as  we  have  observed,  set  up  his  "government"  at  Danville,  after  his  flight  from 
Richmond.  On  the  5th  of  April,  he  issued  a  proclamation  from  that  place,  in  his  usual  style.  "Let  us 
but  will  it,"  he  said,  "and  we  are  free.  Animated  by  that  confidence  in  spirit  and  fortitude  which  never 
yet  failed  me,  I  announce  to  you,  my  fellow-countrymen,  that  it  is  my  purpose  to  maintain  your  cause 
with  my  whole  heart  and  soul;  that  I  will  never  consent  to  abandon  to  the  enemy  one  foot  of  the  soil 
of  any  one  of  the  States  of  the  Confederacy."  This  was  followed  a  few  days  afterward  by  his  proposition 
to  Johnston  to  abandon  his  army  and  protect  the  "government"  in  its  flight  to  Mexico.  In  his  procla 
mation,  Davis  declared  his  purpose  to  defend  Virginia,  and  that  "no  peace  should  ever  be  made  with  the 
infamous  invaders  of  her  territory ; ' '  now  he  ingloriously 
abandoned  Virginia.  When  he  heard  of  the  surrender  of 
Johnston's  army,  and  the  ring  of  Stoneman's  sabres  fell 
upon  his  ears,  he  and  his  cabinet,  escorted  by  two  thousand 
cavalry,  fled  across  rivers  and  swamps,  with  their  forces, 
toward  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  for  the  way  to  the  Mississippi 
and  beyond  was  barred.  Rumors  of  Stoneman,  of  Wilson, 
and  even  of  Sheridan  being  on  their  track  quickened  their 
flight;  while  their  escort  so  rapidly  dwindled  that  when 
they  reached  Washington,  in  Georgia,  the  troopers  were 
not  more  than  sufficient  to  make  a  respectable  raiding 
party.  There  all  the  cabinet  ministers  but  Postmaster- 
General  Reagan,  left  Davis,  whose  wife  and  children,  and 
Mrs.  Davis's  sister  (Miss  Howell)  had  accompanied  the  fu 
gitive  "government"  from  Danville.  Now,  for  prudential 
reasons,  this  family  took  another  but  nearly  parallel  route 
for  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  traveling  in  wagons.  GATHERING  THE  DEAD  ox  THE  BATTLEFIELD 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


415 


AT  SAVANNAH,  GA. 


416 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHRONOLOGICAL   SUMMARY   AND    RECORD— Continued 


AUGUST,  1364—  Continued  from  Section   12 


aquemi 

killed. 


7— Moorefield,  Va.      14th  Penna.,  8th  Ohio,  1st  and  3d  W.  Va.,  and  1st 

X.    V.    Cav.      Union  9  killed,   22   wounded.      Confed.    100  killed   and 

wounded,  400  missing. 
7  to  14— Tallahatchie  R;vcr.  Abbeville,  Oxford  and  Hurricane  Creek,  Miss. 

Hatch's  Cav.  and  Mower's  Command  of  Sixteenth  Corps.      Casualties 

not  recorded. 
9 — Explosion  of  ammunition  at   City  Point,   Va.      Union  70  killed,    130 

wounded. 
10  and  11 — Berryville  Pike.  Sulphur  Springs  Bridge  and  White  Post,  Va. 

Torbett's  Cav.      Union  34  killed,  90  wounded,  200  missing. 
IS— Near  Snicker's  Gap,  Va.      144th  and  149th  Ohio.      Union  4  killed,  10 

wounded,  200  missing.     Confed.  2  killed,  3  wounded. 
14 — Gravel  Hill,  Va.     Gregg's  Cav.      Union  3  killed,  18  wounded. 
14  to  16— Dalton,  Ga.     2d  Mo.  and  14th  U.  S.  Colored. 
14  to  18 — Strawberry   Plains.   Va.      Second  and   Tenth   Corps  and   Gregg's 

Cav.     Union  400  killed,  1,755  wounded,  1,400  missing.      Confed.  1,000 

wounded. 
15 — Fisher's  Hill,  near  Strasburg,  Va.     Sixth  and  Eighth  Corps  and  1st  Cav. 

Division  Army  of  the  Potomac.      Union  30  wounded. 
16 — Crooked  Run,  Front  Royal.  Va.      Merritt's  Cav.      Union  13  killed,  58 

wounded.      Confed.  30  killed,  150  wounded,  300  captured. 
17 — Gainesville,    Fla.     75th    Ohio    Mounted    Inft.      Union    10    killed,    30 

wounded,  102  missing. 
Winchester.  Va.      Xew  Jersey  Brigade  of  Sixth  Corps  and  Wilson's  Cav. 

Union  50  wounded,  250  missing. 
18,   19  and  21 — Six- Mile   House,   Weldon   Railroad,  Va.      Fifth   and    Ninth 

Corps    and    Kautz's    and    Gregg's    Cav.      Union    212    killed,     1,155 

wounded,    3,170    missing.      Confed.    2,000    wounded,    2,000    missing. 

Confed.     Brig. -Gens.     Saunders    and     Lamar    killed    and     Claigman, 

Barton,  Finnegan  and  Anderson  wounded. 

18  to  22 — Kilpatrick's  Raid  on  the  Atlanta  Railroad.      Union  400  wounded. 
19 — Snicker's  Gap,   Pike,  Va.      Detachment  of  5th   Mich.   Cav.      Union  30 

killed,  3  wounded   (all  prisoners  taken,  and  the  wounded,   were  put 

to  death  by  Mosby). 

Martinsburg,  Va.     AverilPs  Cav.      Union  25  killed  and  wounded. 
19 — Pine  Bluff,  Term.  River.  Tenn.      Detachment  of  Co.  B  83d  111.  Mounted 

Inft.      Union  8  killed,  and  mutilated  by  guerrillas. 
21 — Summit  Point,  Berryville  and  Flowing  Springs,  Va.      Sixth  Corps  and 

Merritt's  and  Wilson's  Cav.      Union  000  killed  and  wounded.      Confed. 

40i>  killed  and  wounded. 
Memphis,  Tenn.      Detachments  of  Sth  Iowa,  108th  and  113th  111.,  39th, 

40th  and  41st  Wis.,  Olst  U.  S.  Colored,  3d  and  4th  Iowa  Cav.,  Battery 

G    1st   Mo.   Lt.   Artil.      Union  30  killed,   100  wounded.      Confed.    100 

killed  and  wounded. 
21  and  22— College  or  Oxford  Hill,  Miss.     4th  Iowa,  llth  and  21st  Mo.,  3d 

Iowa  Cav.,  12th  Mo.  Cav.     Confed.  15  killed. 
23 — Abbeville,    Miss.      10th   Mo.,   14th  Iowa,  5th  and  7th   Minn.,  Sth^Wis. 

Union  20  wounded.     Confed.  15  killed. 
24 — Fort  Smith,  Ark.      llth  U.  S.  Colored.      Union  1  killed,  13  wounded. 

Jones's  Hay  Station  and  Ashley  Station,  Ark.     9th  Iowa  and  Sth  and 

llth   Mo.  Cav.      Union  5  killed,  41  wounded.      Confed.  60  wounded. 
24  and  25 — Bermuda  Hundred.  Va.     Tenth  Corps.      Union  31   wounded. 

Confed.  01  missing. 
24  to  27— Halltown,  Va.     Portion  of  Eighth  Corps.      Union  39  killed,  178 

wounded.      Confed.  130  killed  and  wounded. 
25 — Smithfield    and    Sheperdstown    or    Kearneys ville,    Va.      Merritt's    and 

Wilson's  Cav.      Union  20  killed,  01  wounded,   100  missing.      Confed. 

300  killed  and  wounded. 
Ream's    Station,    Va.      Second    Corps    and    Gregg's    Cav.      Union    127 

killed,  540  wounded,  1,709  missing.   Confed.  1,500  killed  and  wounded. 
27  and  28— Holly  Springs,  Miss.     14th  Iowa,  llth  U.  S.  Colored  Artil..  10th 

Mo.  Cav.      Union  1  killed,  2  wounded. 
29 — Smithfield,  Va.     3d  Div.  Sixth  Corps  and  Torbett's  Cav.      Union  10 

killed,  90  wounded.      Confed.   200  killed  and  wounded. 
31 — Block  House,  No.  5,  Nashville  and  Chattanooga  Railroad,  Tenn.      115th 

Ohio.      Union  3  killed,      Confed.  25  wounded. 
31   and   Sept.   1 — Jonesboro',    Ga.     Fifteenth.   Sixteenth,   Seventeenth   and 

Davis's  Cavalry  Divisions  of  Fourteenth  Corps.      Union  1,149  killed 

and  wounded.      Confed.  2,000  killed,  wounded  and  missing.      Confed. 

Brig. -Gens.  Anderson,  Cummings  and  Patten  killed. 

SEPTEMBER,  1864 

1  to  8 — Rosseau's  pursuit  of  Wheeler  in  Tenn.  Rosseau's  Cav.,  1st  and  4th 
Tenn.,  2d  Mich.,  1st  Wis.,  8th  Iowa,  2d  and  8th  Ind.,  and  (ith  Ky. 
Union  10  killed,  30  wounded.  Confed.  300  killed,  wounded  and 
captured. 

1  to  Oct.  30 — In  front  of  Petersburg.      Army  of  the  Potomac.      Union  170 

killed,  822  wounded,  812  missing.      Confed.  1,000  missing. 
2 — Fall  of  Atlanta,  Ga.     Twentieth  Corps.     Confed.  200  captured. 

2  to  6—  Lovejoy  Station,  Ga.      Fourth  and  Twenty-third   Corps.     Casualties 

not  recorded. 

3  and  4 — Berryville,  Va.      Eighth  and  Nineteenth  Corps  and  Torbett's  Cav. 

Union  30  killed,    182  wounded,    100  missing.      Confed.  25  killed,    100 
wounded,  70  missing. 

4 — Greenville,  Tenn.  9th  and  13th  Tenn.,  and  10th  Mich.  Cav.  Union  0 
wounded.  Confed.  10  killed,  00  wounded,  75  missing.  Confed.  Gen. 
John  Morgan  killed. 

6 — Searcy,  Ark.      Detachment  9th  Iowa  Cav.      Union  2  killed,  0  wounded. 
10 — Capture  of  Fort  Hell,  Va.      99th  Pa.,  20th  Ind.,  2d  U.  S.  Sharpshooters. 
Union  20  wounded.      Confed,  90  prisoners, 

13 — Lock's  Ford,  Va.  Torbett's  Cav.  Union  1  killed,  18  wounded.  Con- 
fed.  1S1  captured. 


16 — Sycamore  Church,  Va.      1st  D.  C.  and  13th  Pa.  Cav.      Union  400  killed, 

i          wounded  and  captured.      Confed.  50  killed  and  wounded. 
16  and  18— Fort  Gibson,  Ind.  Ter.      79th  U.  S.  Colored  and  2d  Kan.  Cav. 

Union  38  killed,  48  missing. 
17 — Belcher's  Mills,  Va.     Kautz's  and  Gregg's  Cav.      Union  25  wounded. 

19  to  22 — Winchester  and  Fisher's  Hill,  Va.  Sixth,  Eighth  and  1st  and  2d 
Divisions  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps.  Averill's  and  Torbett's  Cav., 
Maj.-Gen.  Phil.  Sheridan.  Union  093  killed,  4.033  wounded.  623 
missing.  Confed.  3,250  killed  and  wounded,  3,000  captured.  Union 
Brig. -Gens.  Russell  and  Mulligan  killed,  and  Mclntosh,  Upton  and 
Chapman  wounded.  Confed.  Maj.-Gcn.  Rhodes  and  Brig. -Gens. 
Gordon  and  Goodwin  killed,  and  Fitz-Hugh  Lee,  Terry,  Johnson  and 
Wharton  wounded. 

23— Athens,  Ala.      100th,   110th  and   114th   U.   S.   Colored,  3d   Tenn.   Cav., 
reinforced  by  18th  Mich,  and  102d  Ohio.      Union  950  missing.      Con 
ffd.  5  killed,  25  wounded. 
Rockport,  Mo.     3d  Mo.  Militia  Cav.      Union  10  killed. 

24—  Fayette.  Mo.  9th  Mo.  Militia  Cav.  Union  3  killed,  5  wounded. 
Confed.  0  killed,  30  wounded. 

26  and  27— Pilot  Knob  or  Ironton,  Mo.  47th  and  50th  Mo.,  14th  Iowa,  2d 
and  3d  Mo.  Cav.,  Battery  H  2d  Mo.  Lt.  Artil.  Union  28  killed,  56 
wounded,  100  missing.  Confed.  1,500  killed  and  wounded. 

27 — -Centralia,  Mo.     Three  Co.'s  39th  Mo.,  massacred  by  Price.      Union  122 

killed,  2  wounded. 

Marianna,  Fla.    7th  Vt.,  82d  U.  S.  Colored  and  2d  Maine  Cav.     Union 
32  wounded.      Confed.  81  missing. 

28  and  30— New  Market  Heights  or  Laurel  Hill.  Va.      Tenth  and  Eighteenth 

Corps  and  Kautz's  Cav.      Union  400  killed,  2,029  wounded.      Confed. 
2,000  killed  and  wounded. 

29— Centreville.  Tenn.  2d  Tenn.  Mounted  Inft.  Union  10  killed,  25 
wounded. 

29  and  30 — -Leesburg  and  Harrison,  Mo.      14th  Iowa,  2d  Mo.  Militia  Cav., 

Battery  H  2d  Mo.  Lt.  Artil. 

30  and  Oct.  1— Poplar  Springs  Church,  Va.      1st   Div.  Fifth  Corps  and  2d 

Div.    Ninth   Corps.      Union   141   killed,  788  wounded,    1 ,750  missing. 
Confed.  800  wounded,  100  missing. 
Arthur's  Swamp,  Va.     Gregg's  Cav.     Union  60  wounded,  100  missing. 

OCTOBER,   1864 

2 — Waynesboro,  Va.     Portion  of  Custer's  and  Merritt's  Cav.      Union  50 

killed  and  wounded. 
Saltville,  Va.      llth  and  13th  Ky.  Cav.,  12th  Ohio,  llth  Mich.,  5th  and 

hin  U.  S.  Colored  Cav.,  20th,  30th,  35th,  37th,  39th.  40th  and  45th 

Ky.    Mounted    Inft.      Union    54    killed,    190    wounded,    104    missing. 

Confed.  18  killed,  71  wounded,  21  missing. 
5 — Jackson.  La.     23d  Wis..  1st  Tex.,  and  1st  La.  Cav.,  2d  and  4th  Mass. 

Battery.      Union  4  killed,  10  wounded. 
Allatoona,  Ga.     7th,  12th,  50th,  57th  and  93d  111.,  39th  Iowa,  4th  Minn., 

18th  Wis.  and   12th  Wis.  Battery.      Union   142  killed,  352  wounded, 

212  missing.      Confed.  231  killed,  500  wounded,  411  missing. 

7 — Xew  Market,  Va.     3d  Div.  Custer's  Cav.      Union  56  missing. 

7  to  11— Jefferson  City,  California  and  Boonsville,  Mo.  (Price's  Invasion.) 
1st,  4th,  5th,  6th  and  7th  Mo.  Militia  Cav.,  15th  Mo.  Cav.,  17th  111. 
Cav.,  Battery  H  2d  Mo.  Lt.  Artil. 

7  and  13 — Darbytown  Road,  Va.  Tenth  Corps  and  Kautz's  Cav.  Union 
1O5  killed,  502  wounded,  200  missing.  Conffd.  1,100  killed  and 
wounded,  350  missing.  Confed.  Gen.  Gregg  killed. 

9 — Tom's  Brook,  Fisher's  Hill  or  Strasburg,  Va.      Merritt's,  Custer's  and 
Torbett's  Cav.      Union  9  killed,  67  wounded.      Confed.  100  killed  and 
wounded,  180  missing. 
10 — East  Point,  Miss.     Gist  U.  S.  Colored.      Union  16  killed,  20  wounded. 

11 — Fort  Donelson,  Tenn.  Detachment  4th  U.  S.  Colored  Heavy  Artil. 
Union  4  killed,  9  wounded.  Confed.  3  killed,  23  wounded. 

12 — Reconnaissance  to  Strasburg,  Va.  Mai. -Gen.  Emory's  and  Crook's 
troops.  Union  30  killed,  144  wounded,  40  missing. 

13 — Dalton,  Ga.     Troops  under  Col.  Johnson,  44th  U.  S.  Colored.      Union 

400  missing. 
Buzzard  Roost,  Ga.     One  Co.  115th  111.     Union  5  killed,  30  wounded, 

00  missing. 
15— Glasgow,  Mo.     43d  Mo.,  and  detachments  of  17th  111.,  9th  Mo.  Militia, 

13th  Mo.  Cav.,  62d  U.  S.  Colored.      Union  400  wounded  and  missing. 

Confed.  50  killed  and  wounded. 
19— Lexington,   Mo.     5th,   llth,   15th  and   10th  Kan.   Cav.,  3d  Wis.   Cav. 

Casualties  not  recorded. 
Cedar  Creek,  Va.      (Sheridan's  Ride.)      Sixth  Corps,  Eighth  Corps,  and 

1st    and    2d    Divisions    Nineteenth    Corps,    Merritt's,    Custer's    and 

Torbett's    Cav.      Union    588    killed,    3,510    wounded,    1,801    missing. 

Confed.  3;000  killed  and  wounded,  1,200  missing.      Union  Bng.-Gens. 

Bid  well    and    Thorburn    killed,     Mai. -(lens.    Wright,     Ricketts    and 

(i rover    and     Brig. -Gens.     Ketchem,     McKenzie,     Penrose,     Hamlin, 

Devins,    Duval   and    Lowell   wounded.      Confed.    Maj.-Gcn.    Ramscur 

killed  and  Battle  and  Conner  wounded. 

21  and  22— Little  Blue  and  Independence,  Mo.  Kansas  Militia,  2d  and  5th 
Mti.  MilHia,  2d  Col.  Cav.,  5th,  7th.  llth,  15th  and  Kith  Kan.  Cav., 
1st,  2d,  4th,  6th,  7th,  8th  and  9th  Mo.  Militia  Cav.  Casualties  not 
recorded. 

23— Hurricane  Creek,  Miss.  1st  Iowa  and  9th  Kan.  Cav.  Union  1  killed,  2 
wounded. 

26  to  29  — Decatur.  Ala.  IRth  Mich.,  102d  Ohio,  6Sth  Ind.,  and  14th  U.  S. 
Colored.  Union  10  killed,  45  wounded,  100  missing.  Confed.  100 
killed,  300  wounded. 

27 — Hatcher's  Run,  Va.  Gregg's  Cav.,  2d  and  3d  Divisions  Second  Corps. 
Fifth  and  Ninth  Corps.  L'nittn  I'.ii  killed.  1,047  wounded,  699 
missing.  Confed.  200  killed,  600  wounded,  200  missing 

(Continued  in  Section  141 


' 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


417 


H 

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418 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHAPTER  XXV.  -Continued. 


I 


NFORMATION  soon  reached  Davis  that  some  Confederate  soldiers, 
believing  that  his  wife  had  the  treasure  taken  from  Richmond  with 
her,  had  formed  a  plot  to  seize  all  her  trunks  and  search  for  it.  He  in 
stantly  hastened  to  the  rescue  of  his  family  and  property,  and  to  provide 
for  their  protection.  For  this  purpose  he  and  a  few  followers  rode  rapidly 
eighteen  miles  and  joined  his  family  near  Irwinsville,  the  capital  of  Irwin 
county,  Georgia,  nearly  due  south  from  Macon.  They  had  just  pitched 
tents  for  the  night ;  and  the  wearied  president  of  the  ruined  Confederacy 
lay  down  to  rest,  intending  to  retrace  his  steps  in  the  morning. 

One"  hundred  thousand  dollars  had  been  offered  by  the  Government 
for  Davis's  capture.  Vigilance  was  thereby  made  keen  and  active. 
General  Wilson  was  at  Macon  when  he  heard  of  Davis's  flight  toward  the 
Gulf,  and  sent  out  two  bodies  of  cavalry  to  intercept  him.  One  was  com 
posed  of  Michigan  men,  under  Lieutenant -Colonel  Pritchard,  and  the 
others  were  from  Wisconsin,  led  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hardin.  Discov 
ering  Davis's  halting-place,  both  parties  approached  the  camp  of  the 
sleeping  fugitives  simultaneously  from  opposite  directions,  and,  mis 
taking  each  other  for  enemies,  in  the  gray  light  of  early  dawn,  they  ex 
changed  shots.  The  noise  aroused  the  slumberers.  The  camp  was  sur 
rounded;  and  Davis,  while  attempting  to  escape  partially  disguised  in  a  woman's  water-proof  cloak,  and  a 
shawl  thrown  over  his  head  by  Miss  Howell,  was  captured  by  Pritchard  and  his  men.  The  whole  fugitive 
party  were  taken  to  Macon.  Thence  they  were  sent  to  Savannah,  and  conveyed  by  water  to  Fortress 
Monroe,  where  Davis  was  confined  in  comfortable  quarters  in  a  casemate.  There  he  remained  a  long  time, 
when  he  was  admitted  to  bail.  He  was  never  tried,  and  lived  an  uncompromising  enemy  of  the  Republic 
which  he  tried  to  destroy. 


COMMODORE  JOHN  A.  WIXSLOW 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Peace — The  Armies  Return  Home — Address  to  the  Soldiers  by  the  General-in-Chief — Disbanding  of  the  Armies — A  Problem  Solved — 
The  Navy:  Its  Growth  and  Work — The  Blockade  and  Blockade-Runners,  and  the  Results — Exchange  of  Prisoners — Davis's 
Proclamations — Exchange  of  Prisoners  Stopped — Treatment  of  Union  Prisoners — Lee's  Ignorance — The  Responsibility  Properly 
Placed — Hospitals — United  States  Sanitary  and  Christian  Commissions. 

WHEN  the  Civil  War,  waged  by  the  armies  in  the  field,  had  ended,  the  people  turned  to  the  pursuits 
of  peace.     There  was  joy  and  hope  in  every  loyal  bosom  in  the  land;  and  the  friends  of  the  Union 
everywhere  found  expression  to  their  feelings  in  the  following 
hymn,  composed  by  George  H.  Boker,  and  sung  by  the  Loyal  League  of 
Philadelphia  on  the  anniversary  of  the  nation's  independence,  just  four 
years  after  the  National  Congress  met  at  the  Capitol  to  provide  for  the 
suppression  of  the  great  insurrection  and  the  salvation  of  the  Republic: 

"Thank  God  the  bloody  days  are  past, 
Our  patient  hopes  are  crown 'd  at  last; 
And  sounds  of  bugle,  drum  and  fife 
But  lead  our  heroes  home  from  strife! 

"Thank  God  there  beams  o'er  land  and  sea 
Our  blazing  Star  of  victory; 
And  everywhere,  from  main  to  main, 
The  old  flag  flies  and  rules  again! 

"Thank  God!  oh  dark  and  trodden  race, 
Your  Lord  no  longer  veils  his  face; 
But  through  the  clouds  and  woes  of  fight 
Shines  on  your  souls  a  brighter  light! 

"Thank  God!  we  see,  on  every  hand, 
Breast-high  the  rip'ning  grain-crops  stand; 
The  orchards  bend,  the  herds  increase, 
But  oh,  thank  God!  thank  God  for  PEACE!" 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL  BENJ.  H.  GRIERSON 


Copyright.  1895,  by  CHARLES  F.  JOHNSON.     Copyright,  1905,  by  LOSSING  HISTORY  COMPANY.     Copyright,  1912,  by  THE  WAR  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


419 


ADMIRAL  FARRAGUT  AND  CAPTAIN  DRAYTON  ON  THE  UNITED  STATES  STEAMSHIP  "HARTFORD 


GUNBOAT  "GENERAL  BURNSIDE" 


420 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


VIEW  OF  A  GUNBOAT 


Before  this  hymn  was  chanted,  the  soldiers  of  the  great  armies  of  the  Republic  who  had  saved  the  nation 
from  political  death,  and,  incidentally,  had  achieved  the  work  of  emancipation  for  an  enslaved  race,  were 
making  their  way  homeward.  They  were  everywhere  received  with  the  warmest  demonstrations  of 
gratitude  and  affection.  In  almost  every  village  and  city  there 
were  public  receptions  of  returning  companies  and  regiments ;  and 
their  tattered  banners  are  cherished  as  precious  mementoes  of  a 
noble  work  finished  by  those  who  bore  them  through  the  perils  of 
the  battle-field.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  soldiers  who  were 
left  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  those  who  confronted  Lee  and 
Johnston  and  achieved  a  victory  over  both  were  marched  to  the 
vicinity  of  the  National  Capital;  and  during  two  memorable  days 
(May  22d,  2T,d,  1865)  they  moved  through  that  city,  in  long  pro 
cession,  with  tens  of  thousands  of  tear-moistened  eyes  gazing  upon 
them,  and  passed  in  review  before  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
nation  and  his  ministers.  Human  vision  had  never  beheld  a  spec 
tacle  like  that,  in  all  its  aspects.  Then  began  the  work  of  dis 
banding  the  armies,  by  mustering  out  of  service  officers  and  men ; 
and  on  the  2d  of  June  (1865),  the  general-in-chief  (Grant)  issued 
the  following  address  to  them: 

"Soldiers  of  the  Armies  of  the  I  'nitcd  States:  By  your  patriotic 
devotion  to  your  country  in  the  hour  of  danger  and  alarm,  and 
your  magnificent  fighting,  bravery  and  endurance,  you  have  main 
tained  the  supremacy  of  the  Union  and  the  Constitution,  overthrown  all  armed  opposition  to  the  enforce 
ment  of  the  laws  and  of  the  proclamation  forever  abolishing  slavery — the  cause  and  pretext  of  the  Rebellion 
— and  opened  the  way  to  the  rightful  authorities  to  restore  order,  and  inaugurate  peace  on  a  permanent 
and  enduring  basis  on  every  foot  of  American  soil.  Your  marches,  sieges  and  battles,  in  distance,  duration, 
resolution  and  brilliancy  of  results,  dims  the  lustre  of  the  world's  past  military  achievements,  and  will  be 
the  patriot's  precedent  in  defence  of  liberty  and  right  in  all  time  to  come.  In  obedience  to  your  country's 
call,  you  left  your  homes  and  families,  and  volunteered  in  her  defence.  Victory  has  crowned  your  valor, 
and  secured  the  purpose  of  your  patriotic  hearts;  and  with  the  gratitude  of  your  countrymen,  and  the 
highest  honors  a  great  and  free  nation  can  accord,  you  will  soon  be  permitted  to  return  to  your  homes  and 
families,  conscious  of  having  discharged  the  highest  duty  of  American  citizens.  To  achieve  these  glorious 
triumphs,  and  secure  to  yourselves,. your  fellow-countrymen  and  posterity,  the  blessings  of  free  institutions, 
tens  of  thousands  of  your  gallant  comrades  have  fallen,  and  sealed  the  priceless  legacy  with  their  blood. 
The  graves  of  these,  a  grateful  nation  bedews  with  tears.  It  honors  their  memories,  and  will  ever  cherish 
and  support  their  stricken  families." 

The  Civil  War  in  America  was  more  extended  in  area  and  more  destructive  of  life  and  property  than 
any  recorded  in  history.  The  whole  number  of  men  called  into  the  military  and  naval  service  during  the 
war,  to  save  the  Union,  was  2,656,533,  of  whom  nearly  200,000  were  colored.  About  1,400,000  men  were 
in  actual  service,  and  60,000  were  killed  in  the  field.  There  were  30,000  mortally  wounded;  and  184,000 
died  in  hospitals  and  camps.  Full  300,000  Union  soldiers  perished  during  the  war,  and  it  is  supposed  the 

Confederates  lost  an  equal  number.  On  both  sides  there  were  a 
large  number  more  or  less  disabled  for  life.  It  is  estimated  that, 
during  the  war,  1,000,000  men,  taken  from  the  active  pursuits  of 
life,  were  sacrificed,  to  feed  the  ambition  of  a  comparatively  few 
men  who  wished  to  form  an  empire  with  human  slavery  as  its 
corner-stone,  and  who  tried  to  pull  down  our  grand  structure  of 
free  government,  that  they  might  build  their  forbidding  fabric 
upon  its  ruins.  That  war  burdened  the  industry  of  the  whole 
nation  with  a  loss  and  debt  of  over  $6,000,000,000.  But  it  gave 
freedom  to  about  4,000,000  slaves,  and  purged  our  National 
escutcheon  of  a  monstrous  stain. 

The  disbanding  of  the  army  went  steadily  on  from  the  first 
of  June  (1865),  and  by  the  middle  of  November  following,  nearly 
800,000  of  the  1,000,000  of  the  soldiers  whose  names  were  on  the 
Bow  GUN  ON  GUNBOAT  rolls  on  the  first  of  Mav  had  been  mustered  out  of  service  and 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


421 


ADMIRAL  DAVID  G.  FARRAGUT 


422 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


MAJOR-GENERAL  GKORGE  STONEMAN 


returned  to  their  several  avocations.  The  wonderful  spectacle  was  exhibited  for  the  contemplation  of 
the  civilized  world,  of  vast  armies  of  men  surrounded  by  all  the  paraphernalia  of  war,  transformed,  in  the 
space  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  days,  into  a  vast  army  of  citizens  engaged  in  the  blessed  pursuits  of  peace. 

No  argument  in  favor  of  free  institutions  and  a  republican  form  of  gov 
ernment,  so  conclusive  and  potential  as  this,  was  ever  before  presented 
to  the  feelings  and  judgment  of  the  nations  of  the  earth.  The  important 
political  problem  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  solved  by  our  Civil  War. 
Our  Republic  no  longer  appeared  as  an  experiment,  but  as  a  demonstration. 
The  National  navy  has  an  equal  claim  to  the  gratitude  of  the  loyal 
people  of  our  country,  for  its  services  during  the  war  were  of  incalculable 
value.  It  attracted  less  attention  than  the  army,  because  our  vessels  of 
war  were  engaged  chiefly  in  the  blockade  service,  or  as  auxiliaries  of  the 
army  along  the  rivers  and  sea-coasts.  In  that  service,  especially  in  the 
latter  portion  of  it,  the  labors  of  the  officers  and  seamen  were  arduous  in 
the  extreme ;  and  there  were  occasions  for  the  display  of  prowess  and  skill 
equal  to  any  required  in  the  open  ocean  service.  A  history  of  the  part 
performed  by  our  gunboat  squadron  on  the  rivers  would  form  a  most 
marvellous  chapter  in  the  annals  of  the  Civil  War. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities,  the  navy  was  exceedingly  weak, 
and  by  its  geographical  disposition,  was,  for  a  time,  almost  powerless,  as 
we  have  already  observed.  It  had  been  reduced  during  fifty  years  of 
peace  to  the  smallest  proportions,  and  was  kept  in  existence  only  by  the 
necessity  of  affording  protection  for  the  continually  expanding  commercial 
interests  of  the  nation.  Its  men  numbered  only  seven  thousand  six  hundred  at  the  beginning  of  1861; 
and  of  its  officers,  three  hundred  and  twenty-two  proved  treacherous  in  the  day  of  trial,  abandoned  their 
flag,  and  entered  the  service  of  the  enemies  of  their  country.  Under  the  able  management, of  Mr.  Fox, 
the  energetic  Assistant-Secretary  of  the  Navy,  the  marine  arm  of  the  public  service  was  speedily  and 
wonderfully  strengthened.  Even  while  in  its  weakness,  a  decree  went  forth  for  the  blockade  of  the 
Southern  ports,  in  the  face  of  the  protests  and  menaces  of  foreign  governments.  Ingenuity  and  mechanical 
skill  developed  amazing  inventions.  The  ^fon!tor,  with  its  revolving  turret,  was  perfected  and  changed 
the  mode  of  naval  warfare.  "Rams"  were  constructed  for  river  service.  Large  numbers  of  vessels  were 
built;  others  were  purchased;  and  men  from  the  merchant  marine  were  invited  to  officer  and  man  them. 
Dock-yards  were  enlarged  and  filled  with  workmen.  The  places  of  the  treasonable  deserters  were  soon 
filled.  Volunteers  flocked  to  the  ships,  and  the  number  of  seven  thousand  six  hundred  men  that  composed 
our  navy  when  the  war  broke  out,  had  increased  to  fifty-one  thousand  before  it  was  ended.  During  the 
four  years  of  the  war,  no  less  than  two  hundred  and  eight  war-vessels  were  constructed  and  fitted  out,  and 
four  hundred  and  fourteen  vessels  were  purchased  and  converted 
into  war-ships.  Of  these,  three  hundred  and  thirteen  were 
steamers.  Many  of  them  were  iron-clads;  and  the  aggregate 
cost  was  Si 0,000.000. 

The  blockading  service  was  performed  with  great  vigor  and 
success,  under  the  triple  stimulus  of  patriotism,  duty,  and  the 
chances  for  personal  emolument.  While  the  British  government 
professed  to  be  neutral,  swarms  of  swift  steamers  were  fitted  out 
by  British  merchants,  and,  laden  with  every  kind  of  supplies  for 
the  insurgents,  were  sent  to  "run  the  blockade."  The  profits  of 
such  operations,  if  successful,  were  enormous,  but  the  risks  were 
equally  so;  and  it  is  believed  that  a  true  balance-sheet  would 
show  that  there  were  no  profits  left  with  these  violators  of  law. 
Over  fifteen  hundred  of  these  blockade-runners  were  captured  or 
destroyed  by  our  National  vessels,  during  the  war;  and  the 
aggregate  value  of  property  captured  and  condemned,  as  lawful 
prize,  before  November  following  the  close  of  the  war,  was  $22,- 
000,000.  That  sum  was  subsequently  enlarged  by  new  decisions. 
The  value  of  the  vessels  so  captured  or  destroyed,  added  to  the 
value  of  goods  in  them,  swelled  the  amount  of  loss  to  the  British 
blockade-runners,  to  full  $30,000,000.  GENERAL  GEORGE  A.  CUSTER 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


423 


GROUP  OF  FEDERAL  GENERALS 


CJKNKRAL    W.    S.    MliRRITT    AND    STAFF 


424 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS,  C.  S.  A. 


There  is  a  dark  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  Civil  War,  over  which  the  writer  would  gladly  draw  the 
veil  of  forgetfulness,  if  it  were  possible.  It  relates  to  Union  prisoners  and  their  treatment.  Soon  alter 
hostilities  commenced  and  there  were  captives  taken,  the  question  was  considered  by  President  Lincoln's 
cabinet,  Can  the  Government  exchange  prisoners  with  rebels  against  its 
authority,  without  acknowledging  them  as  belligerents?  Humanity  took 
precedence  of  the  law  of  nations,  and  an  arrangement  was  made  for  an 
exchange.  The  business  went  on  successfully  until  it  was  violently  in 
terrupted  by  Jefferson  Davis  at  near  the  close  of  1 86  2 .  His  anger  had  been 
kindled  because  of  the  employment  of  negroes  in  the  military  service,  by 
the  National  Government;  also  by  some  proceedings  of  General  Butler 
at  New  Orleans,  already  noticed.  He  first  issued  the  savage  proclamation 
(December  23,  1862)  ordering  Butler,  and  all  commissioned  officers 
serving  under  him,  to  be  hanged,  when  caught,  without  trial,  as  outlaws. 
This  was  followed  (January  12,  1863)  by  another  proclamation,  in  which 
he  announced  his  determination  to  deliver  all  officers  of  the  National 
army  commanding  negro  troops  that  might  be  captured  after  that  date, 
to  the  respective  State  authorities  to  be  hanged,  and  to  treat  those  troops 
as  rebels  against  their  masters.  The  government  paused.  In  Congress, 
measures  for  retaliation  were  proposed;  but  humanity  and  not  policy 
bore  sway,  and  such  measures  were  not  adopted.  The  exchange  of  pris 
oners,  however,  was  interrupted;  for  the  Confederate  Commissioner, 
under  instructions  from  Davis,  refused  to  consider  captive  colored  troops 
as  prisoners  of  war.  In  several  instances  no  quarter  had  been  given 
them,  in  battle  or  afterward;  and  the  black  flag  was  carried  against 

officers  commanding  them.  And  when,  in  August,  1863,  the  National  Commissioner  (Meredith)  demanded 
that  negro  troops  and  their  officers  should  be  treated  as  prisoners  of  war,  the  Confederate  Commissioner 
(Ould)  replied:  "We  will  die  in  the  last  ditch  before  giving  up  the  right  to  send  slaves  back  into  slavery." 
That  determination,  acted  upon  by  Davis  and  his  associates,  caused  an  absolute  cessation  of  the  exchange 
of  prisoners,  for  the  Government  would  not  be  unjust  toward  any  class  of  its  defenders,  especially  the 
weaker.  The  consequence  was  that  the  number  and  sufferings  of  the  Union  prisoners  fearfully  increased, 
and  the  horrors  of  the  prisons  and  prison-pens  at  Richmond,  Salisbury,  Charleston,  Millen,  and  Anderson- 
ville  occurred. 

Well-supported  facts  seem  fairly  to  warrant  the  unpleasant  conclusion,  that  Davis's  proclamations 
were  made  by  him  for  the  purpose  of  obstructing  exchanges,  that  the  Union  prisoners  might,  by  long  and 
acute  suffering,  be  rendered  physically  and  mentally  useless  as  soldiers  thereafter.  The  United  States 
Sanitary  Commission  appointed  a  committee,  of  which  the  eminent  Dr.  Valentine  Mott  of  New  York 
was  chairman,  to  ascertain  by  inquiry  and  observation,  as  far  as  possible,  into  the  matter  of  alleged  cruelty 
to  Union  prisoners.  They  reported  in  September,  1864,  saying:  "It  is  the  same  story  everywhere; 

prisoners  of  war  treated  worse  than  convicts;  shut  up  either  in  suffo 
cating  buildings,  or  in  out-door  inclosures,  without  even  the  shelter  that 
is  provided  for  the  beasts  of  the  field;  unsupplied  with  sufficient  food; 
supplied  with  food  and  water  injurious  and  even  poisonous;  compelled 
to  live  on  floors  often  covered  with  human  filth,  or  on  ground  saturated 
with  it ;  compelled  to  breathe  an  air  oppressed  with  an  intolerable  stench ; 
hemmed  in  by  a  fatal  dead-line,  and  in  hourly  danger  of  being  shot  by 
unrestrained  and  brutal  guards;  despondent  even  to  madness,  idiocy, 
and  suicide ;  sick,  of  disease  (so  congruous  in  character  as  to  appear  and 
spread,  like  the  plague)  caused  by  the  torrid  sun,  by  decaying  food,  by 
filth,  by  vermin,  by  malaria,  and  by  cold;  removed  at  the  last  moment, 
and  by  hundreds  at  a  time,  to  hospitals  corrupt  as  a  sepulchre,  there, 
with  a  few  remedies,  little  care  and  no  sympathy,  to  die  in  wretchedness 
and  despair,  not  only  among  strangers,  but  among  enemies  too  resentful 
either  to  have  pity  or  to  show  mercy.  These  are  positive  facts.  Tens 
of  thousands  of  helpless  men  have  been,  and  are  now  being,  disabled  and 
destroyed  by  a  process  as  certain  as  poison,  and  as  cruel  as  the  torture 
or  burning  at  the  stake,  because  nearly  as  agonizing  and  more  prolonged. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  H.  w.  SLOCCM  This  spectacle  is  daily  beheld  and  allowed  by  the  rebel  government.  No 


.4    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


425 


Troops  Cross  mo  Pontoon  Brie/ops 
ft  A  P  ida  n  River. 


EVACUATION  OF  PORT  ROYAL,  RAPI-AHANNOCK  RIVKR 


426 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


supposition  of  negligence,  or  in 
difference,  or  accident,  or  in 
efficiency,  or  destitution,  or 
necessity,  can  account  for  all 
this.  So  many,  and  such  posi 
tive  forms  of  abuse  and  wrong 
cannot  come  from  negative 
causes.  The  conclusion  is  un 
avoidable,  therefore,  that  these 
privations  and  sufferings  have 
been  designedly  inflicted  by  the 
military  and  other  authorities 
of  the  rebel  government,  and 
cannot  have  been  due  to  causes 
which  such  authorities  could 
not  control."  One  of  the  chief 
instruments  employed  in  the 


FIELD  BATTERY 


HORACE  GREELEY 


infliction  of  cruelties  upon  Union  prisoners  was  Brigadier-General  John 
H.  Winder,  an  inciter  of  the   mob  which   attacked  the   Massachusetts 

troops  in  Baltimore.  So  notorious  for  his  cruel  acts  had  he  become,  that  when  (at  the  age  of  seventy 
years)  he  was  sent  to  Georgia  to  carry  on  his  horrid  work  at  Andersonville,  the  Richmond  Examiner 
exclaimed:  "Thank  God  Richmond  has,  at  last,  got  rid  of  old  Winder!  God  have  mercy  upon  those  to 
whom  he  has  been  sent ! " 

Testimony  given  by  Confederates  themselves  confirms  the  statements  made  by  the  prisoners.  So 
early  as  September,  1862,  Augustus  R.  Wright,  chairman  of  a  committee  of  the  Confederate  House  of 
Representatives,  made  a  report  on  the  prisons  at  Richmond  confining  Union  captives,  to  George  W. 
Randolph,  then  the  Confederate  Secretary  of  War,  in  which  report  it  was  said  that  the  state  of  things 
was  "terrible  beyond  description;"  that  "the  committee  could  not  stay  in  the  room  over  a  few  seconds;" 


GENERAL  SILAS  CASEY  AND  STAFF 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


427 


SECOND  CORPS.  C.S.A. 


GENERALS  OF  THE  SECOND  CORPS,  C.  S.  A. 


GEN.WILCOX,  c.SA 


GENERALS  OF  THE  CONFEDERATE  ARMY 


428 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 
HARBOR  AND  FORTS 


that  a  change  must  be 
made,  and  that  "the 
committee  makes  the  re 
port  to  the  Secretary  of 
War,  and  not  to  the 
House,  because,  in  the 
latter  case,  it  i^'ould  be 
printed,  and,  for  the 
honor  oj  the  nation, 
such  things  must  be 
kept  secret."  In  De 
cember,  1863,  Henry 
S.  Foote,  a  member  of 
the  Confederate  House 
of  Representatives,  of 
fered  a  resolution  for 
the  appointment  of  a 
committee  of  inquiry 
concerning  the  alleged 
ill-treatment  of  Union 
prisoners.  His  humane 
resolution  was  voted 
down.  In  the  course 
of  his  remarks  in  its 
favor,  Air.  Foote  read 
testimony  which ,  he 
said,  was  on  record 

in  the  Confederate  War  Department,  to  prove  that  the  charges  of  cruelty  were  true.  Referring  to 
Northrup,  the  Confederate  Commissary-General,  he  said:  "This  man  has  placed  our  government  in  the 
attitude  charged  by  the  en 
emy,  and  has  attempted  to 
starve  the  prisoners  in  our 
hands."  He  cited  an  elab 
orate  report  made  by  the 
Commissary-General  to  the 
Secretary  of  War  (Seddon), 
in  which  he  used  this  signifi 
cant  language:  "For  the 
subsistence  of  a  human 
Yankee  carcase,  a  vegetable 
diet  is  the  most  proper,"  the 
terrible  meaning  of  which  is 
obvious.  Foote,  also,  in  a 
letter  written  at  Montreal, 
in  the  spring  of  1865,  con 
cerning  the  escape  of 
Streight  and  his  men  from 
Libby  Prison,  by  mining, 
declared  "that  a  govern 
ment  officer  of  respectabil 
ity"  told  him  "that  a  sys 
tematic  scheme  was  on  foot 
for  subjecting  these  rtnfor- 
tunate  men  to  starvation" 
He  further  declared  that 
Northrup's  proposition  was 


MAJ. -GENERAL  T.  L.  KANE 


'endorsed  by  Seddon,   the  MAJ.-GENERAL  J.  STAHJL 


BRIG.-GENERAL  H.  BOHLEN 
MAJ.-GENERAL  R.  H.  MILROY 

BVT.  MAJ.-GENERAI    R.  B.  TM.ER 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


429 


canvas  Pontoon  Bridges, 


across 


Corps  Ammunition  Train 

(rossind  Ponioor)  fridoe. 

V 


/i.y.  Znoineers  Constructing 

r.o&3 onSoulh  bdnk  of 
/(niw  /£ 


Chester  field  Bncfge 


CANVAS  PONTOON  BKIDGKS  ACROSS  NORTH  ANNA  RIVKR  AND  OTHKR  VIEWS 


430 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


EXCHANGED  PRISONERS  BELONG 
ING  TO  THE  igTH  INFANTRY, 
AT  NEW  ORLEANS 


Secretary    of    War,"   who    said    substantially    in    that 
endorsement,  that  "the  time  had  arrived  for  retaliation 
upon   the   prisoners    of    war    of    the   enemy."     In  that 
letter  Foote  proved  (i)  that  the  starving  of  Union  pris 
oners  was  known  to   the   Confederate  authorities;     (2) 
that    the    Confederate    Commissary-General    proposed 
it;  (3)  that  the  Confederate  Secretary  of  War  approved 
and  officially  endorsed  it;     (4)    that    the    Confederate 
Commissioner  of   Exchange  knew  it;  and  (5)  that  the 
Confederate    House 
o  f    Representatives 
knew  of  it,  and  en 
deavored  to  prevent 
an  investigation. 
Foote  said  the  posi 
tive    proof    was    in 
the    War    Depart 
ment.     A  greater 
portion    of    these 
documents    were 
burned    when   the 
Confederate     G  o  v  - 

ernment  fled  from  Richmond.  Such  is  the  testimony  of  one  of  the  legislators  of  the  Confederacy, 
who,  it  may  be  presumed,  knew,  personally,  the  facts  of  the  case.  And  it  is  a  matter  of  record, 
that  a  committee  of  the  "United  States  Christian  Commission"  appeared  before  the  lines  of 
Lee's  army  and  sought  access  to  the  Union  prisoners  in  Richmond  and  on  Belle  Isle,  in  the 
James  River  there,  to  afford  them  relief,  with  the  understanding  that  similar  commissions  would 
be  allowed  to  visit  Confederate  captives.  But  they  were  not  allowed  to  pass,  because,  as 
Confederate  witnesses  testify,  the  authorities  at  Richmond  dared  not  let  the  outside  world 
know,  from  competent  witnesses,  the  horrible  truths  which  such  a  visit  would  have  revealed. 
But  General  Robert  E.  Lee  (whose  family  resided  on  Franklin  street  in  Richmond,  from  the  rear 
gallery  of  whose  residence  he  could,  with  his  field-glass,  have  looked  into  the  faces  of  the 
starving  and  freezing  prisoners  on  Belle  Isle,  and  who,  after  the  autumn  of  1863,  was  never  a 
hundred  miles  from  that  city)  testified  before  the  National  "Committee  on  Reconstruction,"  in 

February,  1866,  that  he  was  not  aware  of  any 
bad  treatment  suffered  by  Union  prisoners — not 
aware  that  any  of  them  died  of  cold  and  starva 
tion — that  no  report  was  ever  made  to  him  of  the 
sad  condition  of  Union  prisoners  anywhere — that  he 
never  knew  who  was  in  command  at  Andersonville, 
Salisbury,  and  other  gathering-places  of  Union  pris 
oners,  until  after  the  war,  and  that  he  "knew  noth 
ing  in  the  world"  of  the  alleged  cruelties  about 
which  complaints  had  been  made! 

When  the  starvation  plan  had  succeeded  in  re 
ducing  forty  thousand  Union  prisoners  to  skeletons, 
generally  no  better  for  service  than  so  many  dead 
men,  a  proposition  was  made  by  the  Confederate 
authorities  for  a  resumption  of  exchanges.  Again 
humanity  took  precedence  of  expediency,  and  these 
poor  creatures  in  Confederate  prisons  were  ex 
changed  for  as  many  prisoners  who  had  been  well  fed 
and  otherwise  comfortably  provided  for  in  the 
l  SURRENDER  OF  GENERAL  ROBERT  E.LEB-TO  GENERAL  U.S.  GRANT,  North.  This  was  attested  by  the  Confederate 


APRIL  9,   1865 


Commissioner   of   Exchange,    who,    in   a   letter   to 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


431 


APPOMATTOX, 
RIVER, 
PONTOON  BRIDG, 

IN  THE. 

7      DISTANCE.. 


VIEWS  ox  THE  APPO.MATTOX  RIVER 


EXCHANGED 

ERATE  PRISONERS 

ON  THEIR  VxAY  TO 

no- 


VIEWS  ox  THE  JAMES  RIVER 


432 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


General  Winder,  from  City  Point,  where  exchanges  had  been  resumed,  said  exultingly :  "The  arrangement 
I  have  made  works  largely  in  our  favor.  We  get  rid  of  a  set  of  miserable  wrctclics,  and  receive  some  of  the 
best  material  I  crcr  saw." 

Let  us  turn  from  the  consideration  of  this  unpleasant,  subject  to  that  of  the  noble  efforts  made  to 
relieve  the  suffering  of  soldiers  in  the  field,  the  camp,  and  the  hospital.  It  is  just,  however,  before  so 
doing,  to  ask  the  reader  to  remember,  always,  that  the  great  body  of  the  Southern  people  were  not  only 
entirely  guiltless  of  the  proven  cruelties  practised  toward  the  Union  prisoners,  but  were  kept  in  profound 
ignorance  of  them.  The  responsibility  rests  upon  the  tea.1  selfish  political  leaders  in  the  great  conspiracy  and 
insurrection,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  who,  whenever  it  suited  their  purposes,  defied  all  moral  and 
civil  law.  To  these  men  belongs  the  responsibility  of  involving  this  happy  and  prosperous  nation  in  a 
most  destructive  Civil  War,  with  all  its  awful  consequences;  and  to  them  our  brethren  of  the  late  slave- 
labor  States  are  indebted  for  whatever  evil  reports  have  affected  them.  A  reign  of  terror  under  the 

Richmond  despotism  crushed  out  all  freedom  of  speech  and  action 
in  the  Confederacy,  as  Castle  Thunder  might  testify.  The  people  of 
the  South,  as  good,  benevolent,  humane,  refined,  kind-hearted  and 
Christian-like  in  character  and  deeds  as  any  on  the  face  of  the  earth, 

have  unjustly  suffered  reproaches  be 
cause  of  the  wrongs  committed  by  self- 
constituted  political  leaders  who  mis 
represented  them. 

The  arrangements  by  the  Govern 
ment  for  the  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers  of  the  National  army  were  ample 
and  complete. 
When  the  war 
closed  there  were 
two  hundred  and 
four  general  hospi 
tals  fully  equipped, 
with  a  capacity  of 
nearly  1 3  7 ,000  beds. 
Besides  these  there 
were  numerous 
temporary  and  fly 
ing  hospitals,  the 

former  in  camps  and  on  vessels,  and  the  latter  on  battle-fields.  The  report  of  the  Surgeon-General 
(Joseph  K.  Barnes),  at  the  close  of  the  war,  showed  that  from  the  beginning  of  hostilities  in  1861,  to  July 
i,  1865,  there  had  been  treated  in  the  general  hospitals  alone,  1,057,423  cases,  among  whom  the  average 
rate  of  mortality  was  only  eight  per  cent. ;  much  smaller  than  had  ever  been  known  before  in  any  army. 
That  of  the  army  of  the  United  States  in  the  war  with  Mexico  was  a  little  over  ten  per  cent.  Of  the 
British  in  the  Crimean  campaign,  it  was  nearly  twenty  per  cent.,  and  of  their  French  allies  there  still 
greater. 

The  low  rate  of  mortality  in  the  Union  army  was  due  to  several  favorable  circumstances,  the  chief 
of  which  was  the  employment,  by  the  Government,  of  a  sufficient  number  of  skillful  surgeons;  a  bountiful 
provision  in  all  the  hospitals  of  every  necessity;  the  beneficent  labors  of  the  two  powerful  and  popular 
organizations  known  as  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission  and  the  I 'nited  States  Christian  Commission, 
and  the  untiring  labors  of  women  everywhere.  The  latter  worked  with  tenderness  and  devotion  in 
hospitals,  in  camps,  and  even  on  or  near  the  field  of  battle,  as  most  efficient  nurses.  By  their  presence 
they  continually  brought  images  of  home  to  the  sick  or  wounded  soldier,  and  cheered  and  consoled  him 
with  healing  words  more  efficacious  sometimes  than  the  apothecary's  medicine.  To  this  catalogue  of 
hygienic  instrumentalities  must  be  added  the  potent  and  benevolent  influences  of  a  hundred  thousand 
army  chaplains.  As  a  class  they  were  faithful  servants  of  their  Divine  Master,  and  ever  ready  to  ' '  minister 
to  a  mind  diseased."  They  formed  a  trusted  link  between  the  soldier  and  his  home — a  ladder  for  the  angels 
of  thought  and  affection  between  his  Bethel  and  his  heaven  on  earth — telling  the  bereaved,  in  written 
words,  of  the  joy  and  hope  of  loved  ones  at  the  gate  of  death;  or,  better  still,  sending  to  anxious  hearts  the 
balm  of  consolation  in  sweet  epistles  giving  the  cheering  news  of  convalescence.  The  most  profound  re 
spect  and  gratitude  are  due  by  the  people  of  our  land  to  the  chaplains  of  the  hospitals  of  the  army  and  navy. 


.4    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


433 


SCENES  AT  HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC,  .NOVEMBER,  1862,  TO  JI~NE,  1863 


434 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  origin  of  the  United  States  Sanitary 
Commission,  and  to  the  United  States  Christian  Commission.  On  the 
1 6th  of  June,  1861,  the  Secretary  of  War  (Mr.  Cameron)  issued  an  order 
appointing  Henry  W.  Bellows,  A.  D.  Bache,  Jeffries  Wyman,  W.  H. 
Van  Buren,  R.  C.  Wood,  George  W.  Cullum  and  Alexander  Shiras,  in 
conjunction  with  such  others  as  might  associate  with  them,  a  ' '  Commis 
sion  of  Inquiry  and  Advice,  in  Respect  of  the  Sanitary  Interests  of  the 
United  States  Forces."  The  functions  of  the  Commission  are  indicated 
by  the  title.  They  appointed  a  board  of  managers,  with  Dr.  Bellows  (who 
may  be  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  Commission)  at  its  head.  He  sub 
mitted  a  plan  of  organization,  to  which  the  President  and  Secretary  of 
War  gave  their  sanction  by  affixing  their  signatures  to  it,  and  it  became 
the  constitution  of  the  Commission.  Its  seal  bore  the  words,  "UNITED 
STATES  SANITARY  COMMISSION,"  with  the  date  of  its  organization.  Upon 
the  face  of  the  seal  was  an  escutcheon,  bearing  the  figure  of  Mercy,  winged, 
with  the  symbol  of  Christianity  upon  her  bosom  and  a  cup  of  consolation 
in  her  hand,  coming  down  from  the  clouds  to  visit  wounded  soldiers  on 
the  battle-field.  Frederick  Law  Olmstead  was  chosen  resident  secretary, 
and  became  the  general  manager  of  the  affairs  of  the  Commission. 
This  Commission  went  to  work  most  vigorously,  to  supplement  the  Government  deficiencies  in 
supplying  comforts  for  the  sick  and  wounded.  They  appealed  to  the  people,  and  the  response  was  mar 
vellous.  Supplies  and  money  flowed  in  in  sufficient  volume  to  meet  all  demands.  All  over  the  country, 
men,  women,  and  children,  singly  and  collectively,  were  working  for  it,  and  contributing  to  it.  Fairs  were 
held  in  large  cities,  which  turned  immense  sums  of  money  into  its  treasury.  With  these  funds  it  supplied 


GENERAL  ROISERT  E.  LEE,  C.  S.  A. 


EBO 
SUNK  BY 
CONF 

SHUL 
** 


DUTCH  GAP  CANAL  AND  OTHER  VIEWS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


435 


GENERAL  GRANT'S  BASE  OF  SUPPLIES,  AT  CITY  POINT 


QUARTERMASTER'S  HKAUOTARTERS,  AT  CITY  POINT 


436 


A    II I  S  TORY    O  F    Til  E    CIVIL    W  A  R 


the  sick  and  wounded  with  delicacies,  ice,  stimulants,  fruits,  etc.,  and  with  trained  nurses,  while  the 
Government  supplied  all  regular  rations.  In  a  single  fair,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  the  net  receipts  were 
$1,181,500.  In  the  little  city  of  Poughkeepsie,  on  the  Hudson,  whose  population  was  then  about  16,000, 
the  net  profits  of  the  fair  were  over  $16,000.  Branches  of  the  Commission  were  established;  agents  were 
employed;  corps  of  nurses  were  organized;  ambulances,  army-wagons  and  steamboats  of  its  own  were 
employed  in  the  transportation  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  supplies.  It  followed  the  army  closely  in 
all  campaigns.  Its  ear,  always  open,  caught  the  first  sounds  of  battle  everywhere,  and  before  the  smoke 
of  conflict  was  lifted  from  the  field,  there  was  the  Sanitary  Commission,  like  an  omnipresent  minister  of 
good,  with  wagons,  supplies,  tents  and  nurses,  ready  to  afford  instant  relief.  Like  a  guardian  angel  it 
was  always  at  the  side  of  the  soldier  in  moments  of  greatest  need.  When  the  war  ceased,  and  the  record 
of  the  work  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  was  made  plain,  it  was  found  that  the  loyal  people  of  the  land 


VIEWS  IN  WARRENTOX,  VA. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


437 


FORT  UARUNC;,  DRHWKY'S  BLUFF,  JAMES  RIVER 


438 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


FIELD  BATTERY 


POWDER  MAGAZINE  ON  THE  LINES 


had  given  to  it  supplies 
valued  at  about  five  mil 
lion  dollars. 

The  United  States 
Christian  Commission  was 
a  kindred  organization, 
working  in  harmony  with 
the  United  States  Sanitary 
Commission,  and  per 
formed  great  labors  for 
the  spiritual  and  tempo 
ral  good  of  the  soldiers. 
It  had  its  origin  in  the 
Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  of  New  York, 

and  was  first  suggested  by  Vincent  Colyer,  an  artist  of  that  city, 
and  an  earnest  worker  in  useful  fields  of  benevolence.  He, 
with  Frank  W.  Ballard  and  Mrs.  Dr.  Harris,  who  represented 
the  Ladies'  Aid  Society  of  Philadelphia,  went  to  Washington 

City  immediately  after  the  first  battle  at  Bull  Run,  to  do  Christian  work  in  the  camps  and  hospitals 
there.  Every  facility  for  visiting  the  camps  was  given  to  Mr.  Colyer  by  the  military  authorities, 
and  they  even  gave  him  permission  to  go  to  the  Confederate  camps  if  they  would  allow  him  to  do  so.  He 
distributed  Bibles,  tracts,  and  hymn-books  among  the  soldiers,  held  prayer-meetings,  and  labored  most 
zealously,  in  many  ways,  for  their  spiritual  good.  Finally  Mr.  Colyer  suggested  the  combination  of  all 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  in  the  land,  in  the  formation  of  a  society  similar  to  that  of  the 
United  States  Sanitary  Commission.  It  was  acted  upon  in  September,  1861,  when  arrangements  were 
made  for  holding  a  National  Convention  of  such  associations.  A  convention  assembled  in  the'  city  of  New 
York  on  the  i4th  of  November,  and  the  United  States  Christian  Commission  was  organized,  with  George 
H.  Stuart  of  Philadelphia  as  president.  Its  specific  work  was  to  be  chiefly  for  the  moral  and  religious 
welfare  of  the  soldiers,  which  was  conducted  by  means  of  oral  instruction  and  the  circulation  of  the  Bible 
and  other  proper  books,  with  pamphlets,  newspapers,  etc.,  among  the  men  in  hospitals,  camps,  and  ships. 
This  noble  Commission,  of  which  Vincent  Colyer  was  the  real  founder,  began  earnest  work  at  once 
on  the  same  general  plan  of  the  other  Commission.  It  did  not  confine  its  labors  wholly  to  spiritual  and 

'  intellectual  ministrations,  but  also  to  the  distribution  of 
a  vast  amount  of  food,  hospital  stores,  delicacies,  and 
clothing.  It,  too,  followed  the  great  armies  and  co 
operated  efficiently  with  the  chaplains  of  the  army  and 
navy,  by  supplying  the  soldiers  and  sailors  with  the 
scriptures  and  a  vast  number  and  variety  of  other  good 
books.  Chapels  for  religious  labors  and  public  worship 
were  erected  at  permanent  camps,  and  in  many  ways 
there  was  cast  about  the  soldier  a  salutary  religious  in 
fluence.  Money  and  supplies  came  to  the  Commission 
as  a  free-will  offering  from  the  patriotic  people,  mostly 
collected  by  the  women  of  various  denominations  of  the 
Christian  Church,  and  amounted  in  value  to  six  million 
dollars. 

While  the  two  great  organizations  here  noticed  were 
at  work,  others,  in  large  numbers,  but  less  conspicuous,  were 
laboring  for  the  same  holy  purpose.  Associations  for  the 
relief  of  the  freedmen,  and  for  sailors,  also  for  promoting 
enlistments  for  the  military  and  naval  service,  were  or 
ganized;  and  everywhere  the  most  active  and  disinter 
ested  benevolence  was  manifested.  High  authority  has 
said,  "It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive."  If 
so,  then  the  loyal  people  of  our  land  were  eminently 
blessed ;  for  it  is  estimated  that  through  these  two  great 


BVT.  MAJ.-GEN.  W.  S.  HILLYER 

BVT.  MAJ.-GEN.  J.  A.  RAWLINS 
BVT.  MAJ.-GEN.  J.  D.  WEBSTER 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


439 


GENERAL  GRANT'S  HEADQUARTERS,  AT  CITY  POINT 


COLONELS  F.   D.   DENT,  M.  M.  MORGAN,  GENERALS  J.  G.  BARNARD,  J.  A.  RAWLINS,  U.  S.  GRANT,  M.  R.  PATRICK,  SETH  WILLIAMS 

AND  Rri'Ts  INGAI.LS;  COLONEL  E.  S.  PARKER,  CAPTAIN  H.  C.  ROHINKTT,  AT  GRANT'S  HEADQUARTERS  AT  CITY  POINT 
Picture  taken  April  12,  1865,  after  the  surrender  of  Appomattox  Courthouse,  Va.     Grant  left  that  afternoon  for  Washington,  D.  C. 

Identifications  made  by  Colonel  M.  M.  Morgan,  of  General  Grant's  Staff. 


440 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


Commissions,  various  associations,  and  by  private  contributions,  they 
made  free  gifts  of  their  substance  to  the  amount  of  Jive  hundred  million 
dollars. 

While  these  associations  were  at  work  for  the  benefit  of  the  Union 
soldiers,  similar  efforts,  though  not  on  so  grand  a  scale,  were  put  forth  by 
the  benevolent-minded  in  the  slave-labor  States  for  the  benefit  of  the  Con 
federate  soldiers.  They  labored  in  the  good  work  most  zealously  to  the 
extent  of  their  ability,  and  conferred  vast  benefits  upon  the  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  of  the  Confederate  army.  We  have  no  special  reports 
of  the  result  of  their  labors;  but  we  know  that  it  was  a  great  blessing  to 
the  recipients  of  the  kindly  care,  especially  of  the  women  of  the  South. 
Among  the  variety  of  organizations  for  benevolent  purposes  was  one  called 
The  Confederate  Association  for  the  Relief  of  Maimed  Soldiers.  The  object 
of  that  association  was  to  supply  artificial  limbs  gratuitously  to  soldiers 
who  had  lost  their  natural  ones.  An  annual  subscription  of  $10  consti 
tuted  a  member;  of  $300,  a  life-member;  and  of  Sioo,  an  honorary 
director.  Upon  a  certificate  of  membership,  before  me,  is  a  rude  wood-cut 
representation  of  the  proposed  seal  of  the  Confederate  States. 

CHAPTER   XXVII. 


JOHN  HAY,  PRIVATE  SECRETARY  TO 
PRESIDENT  LINCOLN,  AFTERWARD 
SECRETARY  OF  STATE  TO  PRESIDENT 

McKlNLEY 


Reorganization  of  the  Union — President  Johnson's  Plan — Thirteenth  Amendment — Character  of  the  President — Justice  for  the  Freedmen 
— Motives  of  Lincoln  and  Johnson  Contrasted — A  Pitiful  Trick — Action  in  the  Disorganized  States — The  Test  Oath — "Recon 
struction  "  Committee — President,  Offended,  Makes  War  on  Congress — His  Political  Tour — His  Vetoes — The  President  and  Secretary 
Stanton — French  Troops  in  Mexico — Napoleon's  Designs  and  Perfidy — British  Interference — Suffrage  in  the  District  of  Columbia — 
President  Threatened  with  Impeachment — Acts  of  Congress  Vetoed  and  Passed — Extra  Sessions — Unlawful  Conduct  of  the 
President. 

A  PER  the  terrible  convulsions  produced  by  the  Civil  War,  by  which  State  governments  had  been 
paralyzed,  a  hoary  and  deep-rooted  social  system  had  been  overthrown,  and  throughout  a  number 
of  the  commonwealths  of  the  Republic  there  had  been  a  disruption  of  every  kind  of  business,  the 
powers  of  the  National  government  were  invoked  to  bring  about  a  general  reorganization  of  the  disor 
ganized  elements,  political,  social,  and  industrial.  There  was  nothing  to  be  reconstructed,  for  nothing 
worth  preserving  had  been  destroyed.  No  State,  as  a  component  part  of  the  Republic,  had  been  severed 
from  the  others,  for  secession  was  an  impossibility.  When  the  war  ended,  the  States,  geographically  and 
politically,  remained  as  they  w-ere  before  it  began.  The  insurrection  against  the  authority  of  the  National 
Government  only  placed  the  constitutions  of  some  of  the  States  in  a  condition  of  suspended  animation. 
They  needed  only  the  stimulant  of  competent  official  authority  exercised  by  the  National  Government 
to  reanimate  them.  All  the  States  were  politically  equal — living  members  of  the  great  Commonwealth, 

before,  during,  and  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.  Some  of  them,  inca 
pacitated  for  healthful  functional  action,  were  awaiting  resuscitation  at 
the  hands  of  the  only  healer,  the  National  Government.  To  that  resus 
citation — that  reorganization  and  fitting  them  for  active  life — the  General 
Government  soon  directed  its  efforts. 

President  Johnson  took  a  preliminary  step  toward  reorganization,  on 
the  2gth  of  April,  1865,  when  he  proclaimed  the  removal  of  restrictions 
upon  commercial  intercourse  between  all  the  States.  A  month  later  (May 
29)  he  issued  a  proclamation  stating  the  terms  by  which  the  people  of  the 
paralyzed  States,  with  specified  exceptions,  might  receive  full  amnesty 
and  pardon,  and  be  reinvested  with  the  right  to  exercise  the  functions  of 
citizenship,  supposed  to  have  been  destroyed  by  participation  in  the  in 
surrection.  This  was  soon  followed  by  the  appointment  by  the  President 
of  provisional  governors  for  seven  of  those  States  which  had  formed  the 
original  fabric  known  as  the  "Confederate  States  of  America,"  clothed 
with  authority  to  assemble  citizens  in  convention  wTho  had  taken  the 
amnesty  oath,  with  power  to  reorganize  State  governments,  and  secure 
the  election  of  representatives  in  the  National  Congress.  The  plan  was 
STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS  to  restore  to  the  States  named  their  former  position  in  the  Union  without 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


441 


CITY  OF  RICHMOND,  VA.,  BEFORE  BOMBARDMENT 


CITY  OF  RICHMOND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE.     RUINS  OF  STATE  ARSENAL  AND  VIKW  DOWN  THE  JAMES  RIVER 


442 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


any  provision  for  securing  to  the  freedmen  the  right  to  the  exercise  of  citizenship  which  the  amend 
ment  to  the  National  Constitution,  then  before  the  State  legislatures,  would  justly  entitle  them  to.  This 
amendment,  known  as  the  Xlllth,  was  adopted  by  Congress  early  in  1865,  and  was  as  follows: 

"SECTION  i.     Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a  punishment  for  crime,  whereof 


the   party   shall   have   been   duly    con- 
States,  or  any  place  subject 

"  SECTION  2 .    Congress  s 
article  by  appropriate  legisl; 

This  amendment  was 
When  the  result  of  the  vote 
members    of    the   House 
stantly   sprang  to  their 
cheers  and  clapping  of 
tors  in  the  crowded  gal- 
and  made  the  chamber 
plaudits.     Hundreds  of 
in  the  galleries  and  gave 
dits    by    waving   their 
ticipating  in  the  general 
siasm,  and  added  to  the 
scene  that  will  long  be  re- 
were  fortunate   enough   to 
ment  was  sent  to  the  several 
cation  and  on  the  i8th  of  De- 
of  State    (Mr.      Seward)    declared 
become  a  part  of   the   fundamental 


victed,    shall    exist    within    the    United 
diction. 

.ave  power   to  enforce  this 
tion." 

adopted  by  a  large  majority, 
was  known,  the  Republican 
of     Representatives     in- 
feet  and  applauded  with 
hands.      The    specta- 
leries  waved  their  hats 
ring   with    enthusiastic 
ladies  rose  in  their  seats 
emphasis  to  their  plau- 
handkerchiefs  and  par- 
demonstration  of  enthu- 
intense  excitement  of    a 
membered   by  those    who 
witness    it.       The     amend- 
State  legislatures    for     ratifi- 
cember  following,  the  Secretary 
that  it  had,  by   such    ratification, 
law  of  the  land. 


When  Andrew  Johnson  was  inaugurated  President,  there  were  painful  apprehensions  among  men 
who  knew  him  most  intimately,  that  he  would  not  be  faithful  to  the  trust  reposed  in  him  by  the  loyal 
people  of  the  land.  Notwithstanding  the  strength  of  our  government  had  been  made  manifest 
by  the  shock  of  Civil  War  which  it  had  survived,  it  was  equally  manifest  that  it  was  surrounded  with 
great  perils.  A  pilot  was  needed  at  the  helm  of  the  ship  of  state  possessed  of  a  combination  of  moral  and 
intellectual  forces  of  a  rare  order — sound  morality,  strong  and  unwavering  convictions,  firmness  of  will, 
sobriety  of  conduct,  calmness  of  temper,  a  thorough  knowledge  of  men,  an  accurate  and  impartial  judgment, 
a  willingness  to  take  counsel,  a  clear  perception  of  righteousness,  and  the  acuteness  of  a  true  statesman. 
Circumstances  had  occurred  which  justly  created  a  doubt  in  the  public  mind  whether  the  new  President 


BEVEN  's  BATTERY  IN  ACTION  AT  FAIR  OAKS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


443 


RUINS  OF  RICHMOND 


RICHMOND  AFTER  EVACUATION 


\ 


A     HISTORY    (>/•'    THE    CIVIL     IIM  R 


SKRGKANT  BOSTON  OORHKTT,  \Viio  SHOT  WII.KKS  BOOTH 

CAPTAIN  E.  P.  DOHERTV,  OF  I6TH  \KW  YORK  CAVALRY, 

WHO  C.vrri  Ki-.n  BOOTH 


possessed  all  these  qualities,  so  requisite  at  that  eritieal 
lime,  and  these  doubts  soon  became  settled  convictions. 
His  total  disregard  of  the  highest  interests  of  the  freedmen, 
and  thefaet  that  the  President  was  making  haste  to  pardon 
a  large  number  of  those  who  had  been  aetive  in  the  serviee 
of  the  Confederates  and  would  exereise  a  controlling  in 
fluence  in  the  States  which  he  was  equally  in  haste  to 
reorganize  on  his  own  plan,  startled  the  loyal  men  of  the 
country,  anil  made  them  doubt  the  sincerity  of  his  vehe 
ment  declaration  of  intentions  to  punish  the  leading 
enemies  of  our  Government.  To  a  delegation  from  New 
Hampshire,  who  waited  upon  him  soon  after  his  inaugu 
ration,  he  said :  "Treason  is  a  crime,  anil  must  be  punished 
as  a  crime.  It  must  not  be  regarded  as  a  mere  difference 
of  political  opinion.  It  must  not  be  excused  as  an  unsuc 
cessful  rebellion,  to  be  overlooked  and  forgiven.  It  is  a 
crime  before  which  all  other  crimes  sink  into  insignifi 
cance."  Such,  and  even  more  severe  language  was  used 
by  the  President  when  speaking  of  the  leading  Confed 
erates;  and,  as  \ve  have  seen,  he  charged  Jefferson  Davis 
and  others  with  being  accessories  in  the  murder  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  and  offered  large  rewards  for  their  arrest.  It 
was  feared  by  some  that  the  President  would  deal  too 
harshly  with  the  offenders;  but  events  soon  dispelled  the 
illusion. 

The  poor  freedmen  relied  with  bright  hopes  upon  the 
President's  promise  to  be  their  "Moses"  m  leading  them 
completely  out  of  bondage;  but  they  soon  found  that  he 
was  unwilling  to  do  more  than  secure  their  personal  free 
dom.  He  was  unwilling  to  invest  them  with  civil  rights, 
which  deprivation  he  knew  would  virtually  remand  them 
to  slavery.  The  political  party  which  had  emancipated 


them  and  elevated  Mr.  Johnson  to  his  high  position,  felt  that  justice,  not  expediency,  should  be  the  rule 
in  the  readjustment  of  the  affairs  of  the  Republic;  and  it  was  demanded,  as  an  act  of  National  honor, 
that  thefreedman,  when  made  a  citizen  by  the  Constitution,  should  have  equal  civil  and  political  rights 
and  privileges  with  other  citizens,  such  as  the  elective  franchise.  In  the  spring  of  1804,  President  Lincoln 
suggested  to  the  governor  of  Louisiana,  the  propriety  ot  giving  that 
franchise  to  the  colored  people.  "They  would  probably  keep,"  he  said, 
almost  prophetically,  "in  some  trying  time  to  come,  the  jewel  of  Liberty 
in  the  family  of  freedom."  For  an  ignoble  purpose.  President  Johnson 
proposed  to  his  provisional  governor  of  Mississippi  to  give  the  franchise 
to  such  of  the  freedmen  as  could  read  the  National  Constitution  and 
possessed  property  worth  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  He  well  knew 
that  an  extremely  small  number  could  avail  themselves  of  the  privilege, 
as  the  laws  of  Mississippi  made  it  a  punishable  offence  to  teach  a  colored 
person  to  read;  and  in  the  condition  of  slavery,  not  one  could  hold  prop 
erty.  It  was  a  pitiful  trick,  which  he  was  not  ashamed  to  avow.  In  his 
letter  to  the  governor,  he  said:  "Do  this,  and,  as  a  consequence,  the 
radicals  un  other  words  the  most  earnest  Republicans),  who  are  wild  upon 
negro  suffrage,  will  be  completely  foiled  in  their  attempt  to  keep  the 
Southern  States  from  renewing  their  relations  with  the  Union." 

Within  a  hundred  days  after  his  inauguration.  President  Johnson 
took  issue  with  the  Republican  party  upon  vital  points  of  principle  and 
policy;  and  at  the  close  of  1805,  it  was  plain  to  the  comprehension  of 
sagacious  observers,  that  the  Chief  Magistrate  was  more  friendly  to  the 
late  enemies  of  his  country  than  consistency  with  his  professions,  or  the 
safety  of  the  Republic,  would  allow.  It  was  soon  perceived  that  politicians  n\\u>  HI  KOI 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    \V  A  R 


445 


RONS  OF  MAYO'S  BRIDGE,  RICHMOND,  VA. 


VIKWS  OK  RICHMOND  IN  RTINS 


446 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


Box  AT  FORD'S  THEATRE,  WHERE  PRESIDENT 
LINCOLN  WAS  ASSASSINATED 


in  the  North  who  had  sympathized  with  the  Confederates  during  the  war,  and  the  newspapers  in  their 
interest  which  had  advocated  the  cause  of  the  insurgents,  had  assumed  a  belligerent  tone  toward  Congress 
and  the  loyal  people,  which  greatly  disturbed  the  latter  by  unpleasant  forebodings. 

In  the  meantime  measures  had  been  taken  for  perfecting  peaceful  relations  among  the  whole  people 
of  the  Republic,  by  a  revival  of  industrial  pursuits  and  a  restora 
tion  of  harmony  of  interests.  The  order  for  a  blockade  of  the 
Southern  ports  was  rescinded  late  in  June  (1865);  most  of  the 
restrictions  upon  inter-State  commerce  were  removed  in  August ; 
State  prisoners  were  paroled  in  October ;  and  on  the  first  day  of 
December,  the  first  important  measure  adopted,  after  the  assem 
bling  of  Congress,  was  the  repeal  of  the  act  suspending  the  priv 
ilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 

During  that  period  (June  to  December),  Johnson's  provi 
sional  governors  had  been  diligent  in  carrying  out  his  plan  of 
reorganization  before  Congress  should  meet,  and,  possibly,  inter 
fere  with  it.  Before  the  first  of  December  five  of  the  disorganized 
States  had  ratified  the  XHIth  amendment  of  the  Constitution, 
cited  on  page  442.  They  had,  also,  caused  the  formation  of 
constitutions  for  their  respective  States  and  the  election  of  repre 
sentatives  in  the  National  Congress.  The  President  had  hurried 
on  his  work,  by  directing  the  provisional  governors  to  resign  their 
powers  into  the  hands  of  others  who  had  been  elected  under  the 
new  constitutions.  Some  of  these  governors-elect  had  been  active 
participants  in  the  insurrection ;  and  some  of  the  Congressmen- 
elect  in  these  States  had  been,  it  was  said,  active  workers  against  the  Government.  These  facts  greatly 
disturbed  the  loyal  people.  They  had  witnessed  with  great  anxiety  the  evident  usurpations  of  power  by 
the  President,  the  exercise  of  which,  as  he  had  done,  belonged  exclusively  to  the  functions  of  the  repre 
sentatives  of  the  people  in  Congress  assembled.  The  prescriptions  of  the  Constitution  are  clear  on  that 
point.  Yet  the  people  waited  patiently  for  the  meeting  of  Congress  in  December,  with  the  quieting 
knowledge  that  a  majority  of  loyal  men  would  be  there,  and  that  each  House  had  the  right  to  judge  of 
the  qualifications  of  its  own  members.  It  was  a  settled  belief  that  disloyal  men  would  not  be  allowed  to 
enter  either  House  over  the  bar  of  a  test-oath  prescribed  by  law,  passed  on  the  22d  of  July,  1862.  That 
law  required  every  member  to  make  oath  that  he  had  not  "voluntarily  borne  arms  against  the  United 
States  since  he  had  been  a  citizen  thereof,"  or  "voluntarily  given  aid,  countenance,  counsel  or  encourage 
ment  to  persons  engaged  in  hostilities  thereto,"  and  had  never  "yielded  voluntary  support  to  any  pretended 
government,  authority,  power,  or  constitution  within  the  United  States,  hostile  or  inimical  thereto." 

The  subject  of  reorganization  was  among  the  first  business  of  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress  which 
assembled  on  the  4th  of  December,  1865.  On  the  first  day  of  the  session,  by  a  vote  of  133  against  36, 
Congress  agreed  to  a  joint  resolution  to  appoint  a  joint  committee  to  be  composed  of  nine  members  of  the 
House  and  six  of  the  Senate,  to  "inquire  into  the  condition  of  the  States  which  formed  the  so-called 

Confederate  States  of  America,  and  report  whether  they,  or  any 
of  them,  are  entitled  to  be  represented  in  either  House  of  Congress, 
with  leave  to  report  at  any  time,  by  bill  or  otherwise;  and  until 
such  report  shall  have  been  made  and  finally  acted  upon  by  Con 
gress,  no  member  shall  be  received  in  either  House  from  any  of 
the  so-called  Confederate  States;  and  all  papers  relating  to  the 
representatives  of  the  said  States  shall  be  referred  to  the  said 
committee."  This  body  was  known  by  the  misnamed  "Recon 
struction  Committee."  It  should  have  been  "Rcorganizatun 
Committee." 

This  action  of  Congress  was  a  virtual  condemnation  of  the 
President's  usurpations.  It  was  a  legitimate  interference  of 
the  representatives  of  the  people  with  his  chosen  policy  of 
reorganization,  and  he  was  highly  offended.  He  soon  mani 
fested  open  and  violent  hostility  to  the  legislative  branch  of  the 

CHAIR  OCCUPIED  HY  PHKSIDKNT  LINCOLN  ON      Government,  and  maintained  that  position  during  the  whole  of 
NIGHT  OF  ASSASSINATION  his  administration. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


447 


PRESIDENT  LINCOLN  AND  "TAD" 


MRS.  LINCOLN 


KOHKKT  LINCOLN 


'TAD"  LINCOLN  IN  UNIFORM 


448 


.1     //  /  .V  TORY    O  F    T II E    C I  V IL    W  A  R 


CHRONOLOGICAL  SUMMARY  AND  RECORD— Continued 


OCTOBER,   1864 — Continued  from   Section    13 

27  and  28— Fair  Oaks.  Va.     Tenth  and  Eighteenth  Corps  and  Kautz's  Cav 

Union  120  killed,  783  wounded.  400  missing.     Confed.  80  killed.  611 
wounded,  SO  missing. 
2g — Destruction  of  the  rebel  ram  Albemarle,  by  Lieut.  Gushing  and  thirteen 

marines.     Union  3  wounded,  11  captured. 

Morristown.  Term.     Gen.  Gillem's  Cav.      Union  8  killed,  42  wounded. 
Confed.  240  missing. 

28  and  30 — Xewtonia,  Mo.     Col.  Blunt's  Cav.  in  pursuit  of  Price.     Confed. 

250  wounded. 

29— Beverly   W.  Va.     8th  Ohio  Cav.     Union  8  killed.  25  wounded,  13  miss 
ing.     Confed.  17  killed,  27  wounded,  92  missing. 

30 — Near  Brownsville.  Ark.     7th  Iowa  and  llth  Mo.  Cav.      Union  2  killed. 

NOVEMBER,  186* 

1  to  4 — Union  Station,  Tenn.      10th  Mo.  Cav.     Union  2  killed,  2  wounded, 

26  missing. 
5_Fort  Sedgwick  or  Fort  Hell,  Va.     Second  Corps.     Union  5  killed.  10 

wounded.     Confed.  15  killed,  35  wounded. 
9_Atlanta.   Ga.     2d   Division,   Twentieth   Corps.    Confed.   20  killed   and 

wounded. 
12— Xewtown  and   Cedar  Springs.   Va.      Merritt's,    Custer's  and   Powell's 

Cav.     Union  84  wounded,  100  missing.     Confed.  150  missing. 
IS— Bull's  Gap,  Tenn.     8th,  9th  and  13th  Tenn.  Cav.      Union  5  killed,  30 

wounded,  200  missing. 

16— Lovejoy  Station  and  Bear  Creek  Station,  Ga.     Kilpatrick's  Cav.     Con- 
fed.  50  captured. 
17 — Bermuda  Hundred.  Va.     209th  Pa.      Union  10  wounded,  120  missing. 

Confed.   10  wounded. 
18—  Myerstown,  Va.    Detachment  91st  Ohio.    Union  60  killed  and  wounded. 

Confed.  10  killed  and  wounded. 
20 — Macon,  Ga.      10th  Ohio  Cav..  9th  Pa.  Cav.,  92d  111.  Mounted  Inft..  10th 

Wis.  Battery. 
21 — Griswoldville,   Ga.     Walcott's  Brigade,   1st   Division,   Fifteenth  Corps 

and   1st   Brigade  3d   Division  Cav.      Union   10  killed,   52  wounded. 

Confed.  50  killed,  200  wounded,  400  missing. 
Rood's  Hill.  Va.     Torbett's  Cav.      Union  18  killed,  52  wounded. 


1. 


arrenceburg.    Campbellville    and    Lynnville,    Tenn.     Hatch's    Cav. 

Union  75  killed  and  wounded.     Confed.  50  killed  and  wounded. 
26 — Saundersvijle.  Ga.     3d  Brigade  1st  Division  Twentieth  Corps.      Union 

100  missing.     Confed.  100  missing. 
26  to  29 — Sylvan  Grove,  Waynesboro'.  Browne's  Cross  Roads.     Kilpatrick's 

Cav.     Union  46  wounded.     Confed.  600  killed  and  wounded. 
29  and   30 — Spring  Hill  and   Franklin.   Tenn.     Fourth  and   Twenty-third 

Corps  and  Cavalry.      Union  IS'.)  killed,  1,033  wounded,  1.104  missing. 

Confed.  1,750  killed.  3,800  wounded,  702  missing.      Union  Maj.-Gens. 

Stanley  and  Bradley  wounded.     Confed.  Maj.-Gen.  Cleborne,  Brig.- 

Gens.  Adams.  Williams,  Strahl,  Geist  and  Cranberry  killed,  Maj.-Gen. 

Brown  and   Brig. -Gens.   Carter,    Manigault.  Quarles.   Cockerell  and 

Scott  wounded. 
30 — Honey  Hill  or  Grahamsville,  S.  C.     25th  Ohio,  56th  and  155th  X.  Y., 

26th,  32d,  35th  and  102d  U.  S.  Colored,  54th  and  55th  Mass.  Colored. 

Union  66  killed,  645  wounded. 

DECEMBER,  1864 

1 — Stony  Creek  Station,  Weldon  Railroad,  Va.     Gregg's  Cav.      Union  40 

wounded.     Confed.  175  captured. 
Twelve  miles  from  Yazoo  City.   Miss.      Detachment  of  2d  Wis.  Cav. 

Union  5  killed,  9  wounded,  25  missing. 
1  to  14 — In  front  of  Nashville,  Tenn.     Fourth,  Twenty-third  and  1st  and  2d 

Division  of  Sixteenth  Corps  and  Wilson's  Cav.      Union  16  killed,  100 

wounded. 

1  to  31 — In  front  of  Petersburg.     Army  of  the  Potomac.      Union  40  killed, 

329  wounded. 

2  and  3 — Block-house  No.  2,  Mill  Creek.  Chattanooga,  Tenn.     Detachment 

115th  Ohio.  44th  and  two  Cos.  14th  U.  S.  Colored.      Union  12  killed, 

46  wounded,  57  missing. 
3— Thomas's   Station,    Ga.     92d   111.    Mounted   Inft.     Union   2   killed,    1 

wounded. 
4 — Block-house  No.  7,  Tenn.     Gen.  Milroy's  troops.      Union  100  wounded. 

Confed.  100  killed  and  wounded. 

5  to  8 — Murfreesboro'.  Tenn.     Gen.  Rosseau's  troops.      Union  30  killed, 

175  wounded.      Confed.  197  missing. 
6 — White  Post.  Va.     Fifty  men  of  21st  N.  Y.  Cav.     Union  30  wounded. 

6  to  9— Deveaux's  Neck,  S.  C.     56th  and  155th  N.  Y.,  25th  and  107th  Ohio. 

26th,  33d.  34th  and  102d  TJ.  S.  Colored.  54th  and  55th  Mass.  Colored. 
3d  R.  I.  Artil.  and  U.  S.  Gunboats.  Union  39  killed,  31)0  wounded, 
200  missing.  Confed.  400  killed  and  wounded. 

7  to  9 — Eden  Station.  Ogeechee  River.  Ga.     Fifteenth  and  Seventeenth 

Corps  right  wing  of  Sherman's  Army. 

7  to  11 — Weldon  Railroad  Expedition.     Fifth  Corps,  3d  Division  of  Second 

Corps,  and  2d  Division  Cavalry  Corps,  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Union 
100  wounded. 

8  ami  9 — Hatcher's  Run,  Va.     1st  Division,  Second  Corps,  3d  and  13th  Pa. 

Cav.,  6th  Ohio  Cav.      Union  125  killed  and  wounded. 
8  to  28 — Raid  to  Gordonsville,  Va.      Merritt's  and  Custer's  Cav.      Union 

43  wounded. 
10  to  21 — Siege  of  Savannah,  Ga.     Fourteenth.  Fifteenth.  Seventeenth  and 

Twentieth  Corps  of  Sherman's  Army.      Union  200  wounded.      Confed. 

SOO  missing. 

12  to  21 — Stoneman's  Raid  from  Bean's  Station,  Tenn.,  to  Saltville.Va.,  in 
cluding  Abingdon.  Glade  Springs  and  Marion.      Union  20  killed,  123 

wounded.     Confed.  126  wounded,  500  missing. 
13— Fort  McAllister,  Ga.     2d  Division  of  Fifteenth  Corps.      Union  24  killed, 

110  wounded.      Confed.  250  missing. 
14 — Memphis.  Tenn.     4th  Iowa  Cav.     Union  3  killed,  6  wounded. 


15  and  16 — Nashville,  Tenn.  Fourth  Corps,  1st  and  3d  Divisions  Thirteenth 
Corps.  Twenty-third  Corps.  Wilson's  Cav.,  and  Detachments  colored 
troops,  convalescents.  Union  400  killed,  1,740  wounded.  Confed 
4,462  missing. 

17 — Franklin.  Tenn.  Wilson's  Cav.  Confed.  1,800  wounded  and  sick 
captured. 

17  to  19 — Mitchell's  Creek,  Fla.,  and  Pine  Barren  Creek,  Ala.     82d  and  U7th 

U.  S.  Colored.      Union  9  killed,  53  wounded,  11  missing. 

20 — Lacey's  Springs.  Custer's  Cav.  Union  2  killed,  22  wounded,  40  miss 
ing. 

25 — Fort  Fisher,  X.  C.  Tenth  Corps  and  North  Atlantic  Squadron.  Union 
S  killed.  38  wounded.  Confed.  3  killed,  55  wounded,  280  prisoners. 

28 — Egypt  Station,  Miss.  4th  and  llth  111.  Cav..  7th  Ind.,  4th  and  10th 
Mo..  2d  Wis.,  2d  N.  J.,  1st  Miss,  and  3d  U.  S.  Colored  Cav.  Union 
23  killed.  88  wounded.  Confed.  500  captured.  Confed.  Brig. -Gen. 
Gholson  killed. 

JANUARY,  1865 

2 — Franklin,  Miss.     4th  and  llth  111.  Cav.,  3d  U.  S.  Colored  Cav.      Union 

4  killed.  U  wounded.     Confed.  20  killed,  30  wounded. 
2  and  3 — Nauvoo  and  Thornhill,  Ala.     15th  Pa.  Cav.,  Detachments  of  10th, 

12th   and   13th   Ind.    Cav.   and   2d   Tenn.    Cav.      Union   I    killed,    2 

wounded.     Confed.  3  killed,   2  wounded,  95  captured,   and   Hood's 

supply  and  pontoon  train  destroyed. 
11 — Beverly.  W.  Va.     34th  Ohio  and  8th  Ohio  Cav.     Union  5  killed,  20 

wounded,  583  missing. 
12  to  15 — Fort  Fisher.  N.  C.     Portions  of  Twenty-fourth  and  Twenty-fifth 

Corps    and    Porter's    Gunboats.      Union    184    killed.    749    wounded. 

Confed.  400  killed  and  wounded,  2,083  captured. 

14  to  16 — Pocataligo,  S.  C.     Seventeenth  Corps.      Union  25  wounded. 

16 — Explosion  of  the  magazine  at  Fort  Fisher,  N.  C.  Union  25  killed.  66 
wounded. 

25  to  Feb.  9 — Combahee  River  and  River's  Bridge,  Salkahatchie,  S.  C.  Fif 
teenth  and  Seventeenth  Corps.  Union  138  killed  and  wounded. 

FEBRUARY,  1865 

5  to  7 — Dabney's  Mills.  Hatcher's  Run.  Va.     Fifth  Corps  and  1st  Division 

Sixth  Corps  and  Gregg's  Cav.      Union  232  killed,  1,062  wounded,  186 

missing.     Confed.    1.200    killed    and    wounded.      Union    Brig. -Gens. 

Morrow,  Smyth.  Davis.  Gregg.  Ayres,  Sickels  and  Gwynn  wounded. 

Confed.  Gen.  Pegram  killed  and  Sorrell  wounded. 
8  to  14— Williston,  Blackville  and  Aiken,  S.  C.     Kilpatrick's  Cav.     Confed. 

240  killed  and  wounded,  100  missing. 
10 — James  Island.  S.  C.      Maj.-Gen.  Gilmore's  command.      Union  20  killed, 

76  wounded.     Confed.  20  killed  and  70  wounded. 
11 — Sugar  Loaf  Battery,  Federal  Point.  N.  C.     Portions  of  Twenty-fourth 

and  Twenty-fifth  Corps.      Union  14  killed,  114  wounded. 

15  to  17 — Congaree  Creek  and  Columbia,  S.  C.     Fifteenth  Corps.      Union  20 

killed  and  wounded. 

18 — Ashby  Gap.  Va.  Detachment  14th  Pa.  Cav.  Union  6  killed.  19 
wounded,  64  missing. 

18  to  22 — Fort  Anderson,  Town  Creek  and  Wilmington.   N.  C.     Twenty- 

third  and  Twenty-fourth  Corps  and  Porter's  Gunboats.      Union  40 
killed,  204  wounded.     Confed.  70  killed,  400  wounded,  375  missing. 

22 — Douglas  Landing.  Pine  Bluff,  Ark.     13th  111.  Cav.      Union  40  wounded. 

Confed.  26  wounded. 
27  to  March  25 — Sheridan's  Raid  in  Virginia.      1st  and  3d  Divisions  Cavalry 

Corps.     Union  35  killed  and  wounded.     Confed.  1.667  prisoners. 

MARCH,  1865 

6 — Olive  Branch.  La.     4th  Wis.  Cav.      Union  3  killed,  2  wounded. 

Natural  Bridge,  Fla.     2d  and  99th  U.  S.  Colored.      Union  22  killed,  46 

wounded. 

8  to  10 — Wilcox's  Bridge,  N.  C.  Palmer's.  Carter's  and  Ruger's  Divisions. 
Union  80  killed.  421  wounded,  600  missing.  Confed.  1,500  killed, 
wounded  and  missing. 

16 — Averysboro'.  X.  C.  Twentieth  Corps  and  Kilpatrick's  Cav.  Union  77 
killed,  477  wounded.  Confed.  108  killed,  540  wounded,  217  missing. 

19  to  21 — Bentonville,  N.  C.     Fourteenth,  Fifteenth.  Seventeenth  and  Twen 

tieth  Corps  and  Kilpatrick's  Cav.      Union  191  killed,  l.llis  wounded, 
287  missing.     Confed.  267  killed,  1,200  wounded,  1,625  missing. 

20  to  April  6 — Stoneman's  Raid  into  Southwestern  Va.  and  North  Carolina. 

Palmer's,  Brown's  and  Miller's  Cavalry  Brigades. 
22  to  April  24 — Wilson's  Raid,  Chickasaw,  Ala.,  to  Macon,  Ga.      Union  63 

killed,    345    wounded,   63    missing.      Confed.    22   killed,    38   wounded. 

6,766  prisoners. 
25 — Fort  Steadman,  in  front  of  Petersburg,  Va.     1st  and  3d  Divisions  Xinth 

Corps.      Uninn  68  killed,   337   wounded.   501)   missing.     Confed.  800 

killed  and  wounded,  1,881  missing,  assault  of  the  Second  and  Sixth 

Corps.      Union   103  killed.  864  wounded,   209  missing.      Confed.  834 

captured. 
26  to  April  9— Siege  of  Mobile.  Ala.,  including  Spanish  Fort  and  Port  Blakely. 

Thirteenth  and  Sixteenth  Corps  and  U.  S.  Navy.       Union  213  killed. 

1,211  wounded.     Confed.  500  killed  and  wounded,  2,952  missing  and 

captured. 
29 — Quaker  Road,  Va.     Warren's  Fifth  Corps  and   Griffin's  1st  Division. 

Army  of  the  Potomac.      Union  55  killed,  306  wounded.     Confed.  135 

killed,  400  wounded,  100  missing. 
31 — Boydton  and  White  Oak  Roads,  Va.     Second  and  Fifth  Corps.      Union 

177  killed,  1,134  wounded,  556  missing.     Confed.  1,000  wounded,  235 

miss.ng. 
Dinwiddie  C.  H..  Va.      1st.  2d  and  3d  Cavalry  Divisions  Army  of  the 

Potomac.      Union   67   killed.   354    wounded.      Confed.   400   killed  and 

wounded. 

(Continued   in   Section  15) 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


449 


CONFEDERATE  PRISONS  AND  OTHER  VIEWS 


450 


HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


ANDERSONVTLLE  PRISON 


CHAPTER  XXVII —Continued 

IN  a  speech  to  the  populace  of  the  capital  on  the  226.  of 
February,  1866 — a  speech  which  every  good  American 
would  gladly  blot  from  memory  and  from  the  records  of 
our  country,  if  possible — the  President,  evidently  under 
the  malign  influence  of  an  unfortunate  habit,  forgetting 
the  dignity  of  his  station,  and  insensible  to  the  gravity  of 
the  question  at  issue,  actually  denounced  by  name  leading 
members  of  Congress,  and  the  Republican  party  which 
had  given  him  their  generous  confidence. 

But  this  exhibition  was  a  small  matter  comparedVith 
what  occurred  later  in  the  year  (August  and  September, 
1866)  when  the  President  and  a  part  of  his  cabinet,  with 
the  pretext  of  honoring  the  memory  of  Senator  Douglas 
by  being  present  at  the  dedication  of  a  monument  to  his 
memory  erected  at  Chicago,  on  the  6th  of  September, 
made  a  political  tour  by  a  circuitous  way  through  several 
States,  to  that  city  and  beyond.  He  harangued  the  people 
by  the  way,  in  language  utterly  unbecoming  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  nation,  and  attempted  to  sow 
the  dangerous  seeds  of  sedition,  by  denouncing  Congress  as  an  illegal  body  because  some  of  the  disorgan 
ized  States  were  not  represented  in  it ;  declaring  that  it  deserved  no  respect  from  the  people,  and  that 
a  majority  of  the  members  were  traitors,  "trying  to  break  up  the  Government."  That  journey  of  the 
President,  so  disgraceful  in  all  its  features — its  low  partisan  object,  its  immoral  performances,  and  its 
pitiful  results — forms  a  dismal  paragraph  in  the  history  of  the  Republic. 

That  tour  was  suggested  and  its  performances  were 
inspired  by  the  gathering  in  convention,  at  Philadelphia, 
on  the  1 4th  of  August  (1866),  chiefly  of  men  who  had 
been  engaged  in  the  insurrection,  and  their  sympathizers 
at  the  North.  Their  object  was  to  form  a  new  party, 
with  President  Johnson  as  their  standard-bearer;  but  so 
discordant  were  the  elements  gathered  there,  that  no  one 
was  allowed  to  debate  questions  of  public  interest,  for 
fear  of  producing  a  disruption  and  the  consequent  failure 
of  the  scheme.  It  did  utterly  fail.  Soon  afterward  a 
convention  of  loyal  men  from  the  South  was  held  at 
Philadelphia,  in  which  representative  Republicans  in  the 
North  participated.  The  President's  journey  being 
wholly  for  a  partisan  purpose,  members  of  the  latter 
convention  followed  in  his  track,  making  speeches  in 
many  places  in  support  of  the  measures  of  Congress  for 
effecting  reorganization.  They  applied  the  antidote 
where  the  President  had  administered  poison,  and  neu 
tralized  its  effects. 

So  disgraceful  was  the  conduct  of  the  President  when 
at  Cleveland  and  St.  Louis,  in  the  attitude  of  a  mere 
demagogue  making  a  tour  for  a  partisan  purpose,  under 
a  false  pretense,  that  the  Common  Council  of  Cincinnati, 
on  his  return  journey,  refused  to  accord  him  a  public 
reception.  The  Common  Council  of  Pittsburg,  in  Penn 
sylvania,  did  the  same;  and  when,  on  the  i.=;th  of  Septem 
ber,  Mr.  Johnson  and  his  party  returned  to  the  Capital, 
the  country  felt  a  relief  from  a  sense  of  deep  mortification. 
Having,  soon  after  the  meeting  of  Congress,  laid 
aside  the  mask  of  assumed  friendship  for  those  who  had 

Copyright,  1895,  by  CHARLES  F.  JOHNSON.     Copyright,  1905.  by  LOSSING  HISTORY  COMPANY.     Copyricht.  1<U2,  by  THE  WAR  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION,  Inc. 


LIEUT.  G.  A.  MORRIS,  COMMANDANT  OF  THE 

"CUMBERLAND" 
REAR  ADMIRAL  J.  SMITH 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


451 


OLD  CAPITAL  PRISON,  WASHINGTON.     PAT  WIRZ,  IN  CHARGE  OF  ANDERSONVILLE  PRISON,  WAS  EXECUTED  HERE  IN  1SG5 


GrxHoAT  MENDOTA  ON  THE   JAMES  RIVER 


452 


.4    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


ADMIRAL  JOHN  RODGERS,  U.  S.  X. 


labored  most  earnestly  for  the  suppression  of  the  insurrection  and  for  the  good  of  the  freedmen,  the 
President  used  the  veto  power — his  most  efficient  weapon — in  trying  to  thwart  the  representatives  of  the 
people  in  their  efforts  to  reorganize  the  disorganized  States,  and  to  quickly  secure  a  full  and  permanent 
restoration  of  the  Union  on  the  basis  of  equal  and  exact  justice.  In 
February,  1866,  he  vetoed  an  act  for  enlarging  the  operations  of  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau,  which  had  been  established  for  the  relief  of  freedmen, 
refugees,  and  for  the  cultivation  of  abandoned  lands.  In  March  he 
vetoed  an  act  known  as  the  Civil  Rights  Law,  which  was  intended  to 
secure  to  all  citizens,  without  regard  to  color  or  previous  condition  of 
slavery,  equal  civil  rights  in  the  Republic.  These  acts  became  laws  in 
spite  of  his  veto,  by  the  Constitutional  vote  of  two-thirds  of  each  House 
in  their  favor.  The  President's  uncompromising  warfare  upon  the  legis 
lative  branch  of  the  Republic  disgusted  his  ministers,  who  could  not 
agree  with  him,  and  they  resigned  with  the  exception  of  Edwin  M.  Stan- 
ton,  the  Secretary  of  War.  The  friends  of  the  Republic  urged  him  to 
remain,  believing  his  retention  of  the  bureau  at  that  critical  period  in  the 
life  of  the  nation  would  be  conducive  to  the  public  benefit.  He  did  so, 
and  became  the  object  of  the  mad  President's  bitter  hatred. 

Congress  worked  assiduously  in  efforts  to  perfect  the  reorganization 
of  the  Republic;  and  on  the  2gth  of  July,  after  a  long  and  laborious  ses 
sion,  adjourned.  On  the  2d  of  April,  the  President,  in  a  proclamation, 
had  formally  declared  the  Civil  War  to  be  at  an  end ;  and  the  first  fruits 
of  the  Congressional  plan  of  reorganization  was  seen  by  the  restoration  of 
the  State  of  Tennessee  to  the  Union,  six  days  before  the  adjournment  of  the  National  Legislature.  Mean 
while  notable  events  in  the  foreign  relations  of  the  Government  had  occurred.  The  Emperor  of  the  French 
had  been  informed  by  Secretary  Seward  that  the  continuation  of  French  troops  in  Mexico  was  not  agreeable 
to  the  United  States;  and  on  the  5th  of  April  (1866)  Napoleon's  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  gave  assur 
ances  to  our  Government  that  those  troops  would  be  withdrawn  within  a  specified  time.  This  was  done ; 
and  the  Grand  Duke  Maximilian,  of  Austria,  whom  Louis  Napoleon  had,  by  military  power,  placed  on 
a  throne  in  our  neighboring  republic,  with  the  title  of  Emperor,  was  deserted  by  the  perfidious  ruler  of 
France.  The  deceived  and  betrayed  Maximilian,  after  struggling  against  the  native  republican  govern 
ment  for  a  while,  was  captured  and  shot;  and  his  loving  wife,  Carlotta,  overwhelmed  by  her  misfortunes 
and  grief,  became  a  hopeless  lunatic.  Such  was  the  sorrowful  ending  of  one  of  the  schemes  of  the  Emperor 
of  the  French  for  the  gratification  of  his  ambition.  He  had  itched  to  aid  the  Confederates,  with  a  hope 
that  the  severance  of  our  Union  would  give  him  an  opportunity  to  successfully  defy  the  "Monroe 

Doctrine,"  and  extend  the  domination  of  the 
Latin  race  and  the  Latin  church  on  the  American 
continent,  as  well  as  monarchical  institutions.  As 
a  pretext  for  sending  soldiers  to  our  frontiers, 
primarily  to  be  ready  to  assist  the  enemies  of  the 
Republic  should  expediency  warrant  the  act,  the 
Emperor  of  the  French  picked  a  quarrel  with 
Mexico,  overturned  its  republican  government, 
established  a  monarchy  and  supported  it  by 
French  bayonets  until  the  strength  of  our  Union 
was  made  manifest  to  him. 

The  British  ministry,  too,  as  we  have  seen, 
itched  to  help  the  Confederates  destroy  our 
Republic,  and  had  done  so  in  a  large  degree,  until 
they  were  satisfied  of  the  enormous  reserved  power 
of  our  Union  against  the  combined  and  cowardly 
attacks  of  European  powers  and  of  internal  foes, 
when  they  abandoned  the  insurgents  whom  they 
had  deceived  with  false  promises,  and  sneeringly 
called  their  political  organization  the  "so-called 
Confederate  States  of  America."  Notwithstand- 
FIKLD  HOSITIAI,  AT  SAVAGE  STATION,  JI:NK,  isti2  ing  this  faithlessness  to  their  traditions,  and  fairly 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


453 


454 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


Miss  CLARA  BARTON 


implied,  if  not  absolutely  stated,  treaty 
stipulations  on  the  part  of  the  rulers  of 
Great  Britain,  our  Government  was 
faithful  to  them  all.  When,  in  the 
spring  of  1866,  a  military  organization 
of  Irish  residents  in  our  country,  known 
as  the  Fenian  Brotherhood,  associated 
for  the  avowed  purpose  of  freeing  Ire 
land  from  British  domination,  made  a 
movement,  in  May  and  June,  for  a  for 
midable  invasion  of  the  neighboring 
British  Province  of  Canada,  the  United 
States  Government,  instead  of  investing 
them  with  "belligerent  rights,"  was  true 
to  its  pledges  to  Great  Britain  concern 
ing  neutrality  laws,  interfered,  and  sup 
pressed  the  warlike  movement.  But 
these  are  now  things  of  the  past,  and 
should  not  be  held  in  remembrance  with 
any  unkind  feelings.  At  about  the  same 


WALT  WHITMAN  As  A  NURSE 
IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 


A  nurse  during  the  Civil  War.  Or 
ganized  the  American  Red  Cross  Society 
in  1881.  Died  in  Washington,  April,  1912. 

time  a  peaceful  bond  of  union  was  formed  with  Great  Britain,  by  the  suc 
cessful  establishment  of  permanent  telegraphic  communication  between  England  and  the  United 
States.  An  account  of  the  first  efforts  toward  this  end  will  be  given  hereafter. 

Notwithstanding  the  State  elections  in  the  autumn  of  1866  indicated  the  decided  approval  by  the 


BVT  MAJ  (TEN. 
VAN  CLEVE. 


MAJGEN.fr.~~.HERRON. 


GROUP  OF  FEDERAL  GENERALS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


455 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  SANITARY  FAIR.    PORTRAIT  OF  JOSEPH  CHOATE  AND  OTHERS 


GENF.RAL  JOHN  A.  Dix  AND  SANITARY  FAIR  COMMISSION 


456 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CAMP  OF  THE  50™  NEW  YORK  ENGINEERS 

people  of  the  United  States  of  the  measures  adopted  by  Congress  for  the  restoration  of  the  Union,  the 
President  persisted  in  his  warfare  with  the  National  Legislature,  and  upon  members  of  his  cabinet  who 
would  not  approve  of  his  acts.  The  majority  in  Congress,  feeling  strengthened  by  the  popular  verdict 
upon  their  conduct,  went  steadily  forward  in  perfecting  measures  for  the  restoration  of  the  Union.  They 
took  steps  for  restraining  the^action  of  the  President,  who,  it  was  manifest,  had  determined  to  carry  out 


GENERAL  O.  J.     RAINS,  C.  S.  A. 
LIEUT.-GENERAL  D.  H.  HILL,  C.  S.  A. 


BRIG.-GENERAL  J.  J.  PETTIGREW,  C.  S.  A. 

MAJOR-GENERAL  W.  MALONE,  C.  S.  A. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  R.  E.  RODER,  C.  S.  A. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


457 


HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  SANITARY  COMMISSION,  RICHMOND 


HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMISSION,  RICHMOND 


458 


.4     II I  STORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  GEORGE  SYKES  AND  STAFF 


his  own  policy  of  reorganization,  in  defiance  of  Congress. 
Unmindful  of  his  conduct,  that  body  plainly  indicated 
their  general  policy  concerning  suffrage,  by  passing  a  bill 
on  the  i4th  of  December  (1866),  by  a  large  majority  of 
both  Houses,  for  granting  the  elective  franchise  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  (over  whose  affairs  the  National 
Legislature  has  direct  control)  to  persons  "without  any 
distinction  on  account  of  color  or  race."  The  President 
vetoed  the  bill  on  the  ;th  of  January,  1867,  when  it  was 
immediately  re-enacted  by  the  vote  of  both  Houses. 

The  course  of  the  President  in  continually  opposing 
his  veto  and  casting  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  despatch 
of  legislative  business,  now  appeared  so  essentially  and 
purely  factious,  and  was,  withal,  so  mischievous,  that  it 
was  resolved  to  make  an  effort  to  put  an  end  to  it.  On 
the  same  day  when  Johnson  vetoed  the  District  of  Colum 
bia  Suffrage  bill,  Mr.  Ashley,  a  representative  from  Ohio, 
arose  in  his  place,  and  charged  "Andrew  Johnson,  Vice- 
President  and  Acting  President  of  the  United  States, 
with  the  commission  of  acts  which,  in  the  estimation  of 
the  Constitution,  are  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  for 
which  he  ought  to  be  impeached."  Mr.  Ashley  offered 
the  following  specifications,  in  which  he  charged  him  with  usurpations  and  violations  of  law:  (i)  in  that 
he  has  corruptly  used  the  appointing  power;  (2)  in  that  he  has  corruptly  used  the  pardoning  power; 
(3)  in  that  he  has  corruptly  used  the  veto  power;  (4)  in  that  he  has  corruptly  disposed  of  public  property 
of  the  United  States;  and  (5)  in  that  he  has  corruptly  interfered  in  elections,  and  committed  acts  which,  in 
contemplation  of  the  Constitution,  are  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors.  Mr.  Ashley  also  offered  a  resolution, 
instructing  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary  to  make  inquiries  on  the  subject.  This  resolution  was  adopted 
by  137  to  38,  forty-five  members  not  voting.  It  was  the  first  movement  in  the  matter  of  the  impeachment 
of  the  President,  which  resulted  in  his  trial  in  May,  1868. 

At  a  former  session  of  Congress,  bills  were  passed  for  the  admission  of  the  Territories  of  Colorado 
and  Nebraska,  as  States  of  the  Union.  The  President  had  interposed.  Now  similar  bills  were  passed 
prescribing,  as  a  preliminary  to  admission,  a  provision  in  their  constitutions  granting  impartial  suffrage 
to  all  citizens,  and  the  ratification  of  the  amendment  to  the  National  Constitution.  As  usual  the  President 
vetoed  them ;  when  that  for  the  admission  of  Nebraska  was  passed  over  his  veto.  Colorado  was  compelled 
to  wait  ten  years  and  six  months  for  admission,  while  Nebraska  took  its  place  in  the  galaxy  of  States  on 
the  first  of  March  (1867),  making  the  thirty-eighth  State. 

An  act  was  now  passed  for  the  purpose  of  limiting  the  authority  of  the  President  in  making  official 
appointments  and  removals  from  office.  Among  other  provisions  of  the 
act  was  one  that  took  from  him  the  power  to  remove  a  member  of  his 
cabinet  without  permission  of  the  Senate;  declaring  that  they  should 
hold  office  "for  and  during  the  term  of  the  President  by  whom  they  may 
have  been  appointed,  and  for  one  month  thereafter,  subject  to  removal 
by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate. ' '  This  law,  known  as  the  ' '  Tenure 
of  Office  Act,"  was  vetoed  by  the  President,  when  it  was  passed  over  his 
negative  by  a  large  majority.  Another  bill  was  passed  and  vetoed  and 
was  made  a  law  notwithstanding,  repealing  so  much  of  an  act  passed  in 
July,  1862,  as  gave  the  President  power  to  grant  amnesty  and  pardon  to 
those  who  had  been  engaged  in  rebellion.  A  bill  was  also  passed,  with 
the  same  opposition  of  the  President,  for  the  military  government  of  the 
disorganized  States,  which  were  divided  into  five  military  districts,  Vir 
ginia  comprising  the  first;  North  and  South  Carolina  the  second;  Georgia, 
Florida  and  Alabama,  the  third;  Mississippi  and  Arkansas,  the  fourth; 
and  Louisiana  and  Texas,  the  fifth. 

The  Thirty-ninth  Congress  closed  its  sessions  at  mid-day,  on  the  4th 
of  March,  1867,  and  twelve  hours  afterward  the  first  session  of  the  For 
tieth  Congress  was  begun.  The  country  was  greatly  disquieted  by  the 


GENERAL  RUGGLES,  C.  S.  A. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


459 


CAMP  OF  SANITARY  COMMISSION  AND  OTHER  VIEWS 


460 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


factious  conduct  of  the  President, 
which  created  painful  forebodings 
of  evil  should  that  obstinate  and 
angry  man  be  left  without  restraint 
from  March  until  December.  The 
majority  in  Congress  shared  in  this 
feeling,  believing  that  the  Presi 
dent  was  ready,  if  he  should  deem 
it  expedient,  to  plunge  the  country 
into  a  revolution,  and  attempt,  by 
a  reactionary  movement,  to  undo 
all  that  the  war  for  the  Union  had 
done  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Republic.  For  that  reason,  pro 
vision  had  been  made  by  the 
Thirty-ninth  Congress  for  the  im 
mediate  assembling  of  the  Fortieth 
on  the  expiration  of  its  predecessor. 
That  first  session  continued  until 
the  3oth  of  March,  when,  with  the 
same  lack  of  confidence  in  the 


p~- *- s 

BRI&.  GEN.  S.  Rosv    . 

m 


COLONEL  TOWNSEND 


LlEUT.-COLONEL    G.    K.    WARREN 


LIEUT.  JOHN  TROUT  GREBLE 

(Killed  in  the  Battle  of  Big  Bethel) 
COLONEL  BENDIX 


COLONEL  WARREN 
COLONEL  AHRAM  DURYER 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


461 


L- 


GEXERAL  EDWARD  FERRERO  AND  STAFF.     THIS  is  NEGATIVE  No.  1  IN  THE  WAR  DEPARTMENT 


GENERAL  A.  T.  A.  TORHERT  AND  STAFF 


462 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


patriotism  of  Johnson,  both  Houses 
adjourned  to  meet  on  the  3d  of 
July  following. 

Among  the  acts  of  the  expiring 
Congress  was  one  for  the  establish 
ment  of  a  National  Bureau  of  Edu 
cation  which  has  become  a  most 
valuable  auxiliary  in  the  work  of 
popular  instruction.  Also  an  act 
to  establish  a  uniform  system  of 
bankruptcy  throughout  the  United 
States;  and  another  for  the  aboli 
tion  of  peonage — a  system  of  sla 
very — in  the  Territory  of  New 
Mexico  and  other  parts  of  the 
United  States  wherever  it  might 
exist. 

Congress  reassembled  on  the 
3d  of  July,  and  adjourned  on  the 
2oth  to  the  2ist  of  November. 
The  principal  business  of  this  short 
session  was  to  remove  impedi 
ments  which  President  Johnson 
had  cast  in  the  way  of  the  reorgan 
ization  of  the  Union.  A  bill  supplementary  to  the  act  of  March,  for  the  military  government  of  the 
disorganized  States,  became  a  law,  notwithstanding  it  was  vetoed  by  the  President;  and  it  was  hoped 


MAJOR-GENERAL  W.  B.  FRANKLIN 


GENERAL  E.  D.  KEYES 


Bvx.  BRIO. -GENERAL  O.  H.  HART 


MAJOR-GENERAL  W.  H.  FRENCH          BVT.  MAJOR-GENERAL  G.  H.  GORDON 


MAJOR-GENERAL  G.  L.  HARTSUFF 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


463 


SCENES  AT  HEAiigrARTKRs  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC,  JUNE, 


464 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


and  believed  that  Johnson  would  refrain  from  further  acts  that  were  calculated  to  disturb  the  public 
peace  and  impede  the  prosperity  of  the  country.  This  expectation  was  not  realized.  When  the  members 
of  Congress  had  returned  to  their  homes,  the  President  proceeded,  in  defiance  of  the  acts  of  that  body, 
and  in  positive  violation  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act,  to  remove  the  Secretary  of  War  (Mr.  Stanton)  and 
put  General  Grant  in  his  place.  On  the  5th  of  August  (1867)  the  President  sent  a  note  to  Mr.  Stanton, 

in  which  he  said:  "Grave  public  considerations  constrain  me 
to  request  your  resignation  as  Secretary  of  War."  Mr. 
Stanton,  sharing  in  the  general  suspicion  that  the  President 
contemplated  reactionary  measures  in  the  absence  of  Con 
gress  in  favor  of  the  defeated  enemies  of  the  Republic,  and 
was  seeking  a  means  for  using  the  army 
for  that  purpose,  immediately  replied: 
' '  Grave  public  considerations  constrain  me 
to  remain  in  the  office  of  Secretary  of 
War  until  the  next  meeting  of  Congress." 
Only  a  week  had  elapsed  after  this 
correspondence,  when  Johnson  directed 
General  Grant  to  assume  the  position  and 
duties  of  the  Secretary  of  War.  Grant,  as 
a  dutiful  soldier,  obeyed  the  commands  of 
his  superior,  when  Stanton,  satisfied  of  the 
firmness  and  incorruptible  patriotism  of  t  he 
general-in-chief  of  the  armies,  withdrew, 
under  protest.  This  change  was  followed 
by  such  arbitrary  acts  on  the  part  of  the 
President,  that  the  country  was  thoroughly 
alarmed.  In  the  face  of  the  most  earnest  protests  of  General  Grant,  in  the  War  Office,  Johnson  removed 
Generals  Sheridan  and  Sickles  from  the  command  of  the  Fifth  and  Second  Military  Districts.  By  this 
act  the  country  was  given  to  understand  that  the  most  faithful  officers,  w7ho  were  able  and  willing  to  work 
for  the  speedy  restoration  of  the  Union,  would  be  deprived  of  the  power  to  be  useful.  He  also  issued,  in 
defiance  of  law,  a  proclamation  of  amnesty  for  nearly  the  whole  white  population  of  the  Southern  States. 
These,  and  other  unlawful  acts,  made  the  loyal  inhabitants  impatient  for  the  reassembling  of  Congress, 
upon  whom  they  relied  in  that  dark  hour  of  seeming  peril. 

Patriotic  men  of  the  opposition  party,  and  even  personal  friends  of  the  erring  President,  were  amazed 
and  mortified  by  his  unwise  conduct;  and  some  of  the  latter  charitably  attributed  these  paroxysms  of 
blind  obstinacy  to  the  effects  of  an  unfortunate  habit  into  which  Mr.  Johnson  had  fallen,  and  which 
appalled  them  at  the  time  when  he  took  the  oath  of  office  as  Vice-President,  in  March,  1865.  One  of 
these  friends — a  distinguished  politician — writing  from  Washington  just  after  the  removal  of  Sheridan  and 
Sickles,  said:  "The  President  must  be  crazy.  Does  he  suppose  the  country  will  much  longer  tolerate  this 
unseemly  warfare  upon  the  Legislative  branch  of  the  Government?  You  and  I  know  that  he  has  not  a 
single  legitimate  ground  for  his  conduct,  and  that  several  of  his  acts  are  pure  usurpations  for  which  he  may 
be  impeached.  It  is  neither  just  nor  prudent  for  the  Democratic  party  to  countenance  them ;  and  it  is  in 
the  highest  degree  impolitic  for  them  to  do  so  at  this  crisis.  It  is  the  best  policy  always  to  do  right,  for, 
in  the  long  run,  the  right  will  prevail." 


BRIG.-GEN.  A.  D.  STRAIGHT 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

The  President's  Message  Condemned — His  Conduct  Arraigned — Stanton  Reinstated — Johnson  against  Grant — "Reconstruction"  Acts 
— A  High-Handed  Measure — Impeachment  of  the  President — Charges — Managers: — Popular  Excitement — Trial  and  Verdict — 
Presidential  Nominations — Congress  Denounced  by  a  Convention — Revolutionary  Proposition — Grant  and  Colfax  Elected — 
Amendment  of  the  Constitution — Reorganization  Completed — Amnesty — Military  Rule  Abandoned — Treaty  with  China — Policy 
toward  the  Indians  Considered — Fifteenth  Amendment — Financial  Measure — Inauguration  of  Grant — His  Cabinet — Retirement 
of  President  Johnson. 

THE  second  session  of  the  Fortieth  Congress  commenced  on  the   2d  of    December,    1867.      The 
President's  annual  message  was  so  offensive  in  tone  and  temper,  that  when  the  usual  resolution 
to  print  it  was  offered  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Sumner  took  fire  and  vehemently  denounced  it  as  a 
"libel,"  an  "insult  to  Congress,"  and  an  "incendiary  document,  calculated  to  stimulate  the  rebellion  once 
more,  and  to  provoke  Civil  War.     It  is  a  direct  appeal,"  he  said,  "to  the  worst  passions  and  the  worst 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


465 


"t?f  ^fj&2L&  %/  '  '  -    •  «*    ..'J- 

mm®Fgy$$  * 


GENERALS  GRANT,  BAUEAU,  RA\\XINS,  COMSTOCK  AND  PORTER  AND  COLONELS  DUFF,  F.  D.  DENT,  ROBINETT  AND  PARKER 


GENERAL  CHARLES  GRIFFIN  AND  OFFICERS 


466 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


f 


prejudices  of  those  rebels  who,  being  subdued  on  the  battle-field,  still  resist,  through  the  aid  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States.  It  is  an  evidence  of  a  direct  coalition  between  the  President  and  the  former  rebels." 
Senator  Wilson,  wiser  and  less  impulsive  than  his  colleague,  while  he  as  decidedly  condemned  "the  tone 
and  temper  and  doctrines  of  the  message,"  saying  in  calm  and  dignified  language  that  the  President  seemed 
to  "have  forgotten  that  we  have  had  any  rebellion  at  all,"  and  pointing  out  the  flagrant  inconsistency  of 
his  conduct,  nevertheless  opposed  a  departure  from  the  ordinary  practice  of  the  Senate  in  ordering  the 
President's  Message  to  be  printed,  and  it  was  done. 

A  majority  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  to  whom  the  charges  against  the  President  had  been  referred, 
for  inquiry,  reported  the  following  resolution  on  the  5th  of  December:  "Resolved,  That  Andrew  Johnson, 
President  of  the  United  States,  be  impeached  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors."  In  the  course  of  the 
debate  that  ensued,  Mr.  Boutwell,  of  the  majority  of  the  Committee,  submitted  facts  which  proved  that 
Mr.  Johnson  had  long  contemplated  a  desertion  of  the  party  that  had  elevated  him ;  that  while  on  his 
way  to  Washington  to  be  inaugurated  Vice-President  of  the  Republic,  he  had  confidentially  avowed  to  an 
old  Democratic  partisan  with  whom  he  had  acted  before  the  war,  that  he  preferred  the  party  opposed 
to  the  administration  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  that  the  country  could 
yet  be  saved  from  ruin  through  that  party  only.  It  was  also  proven 
that  he  and  his  friends  had 
declared  that  his  policy 
toward  the  enemies  of  his 
country  and  the  freedmen 
before  June,  1865,  was  only 
temporary  and  for  a  special 
object,  and  that  he  had 
since  persistently  pursued  a 
course  calculated  to  place 
the  country  under  the  con 
trol  of  those  who  had  tried 
to  destroy  the  Union.  Not 
withstanding  this  attitude 
of  the  President,  so  menac 
ing  to  the  good  of  the  Republic,  was  well  estab 
lished,  the  House,  hoping  he  might  cease  his  im 
potent  warfare  upon  Congress,  hesitated  to  adopt 
extreme  measures  toward  the  erring  Chief  Magis 
trate,  unless  he  should  yet  commit  some  flagrant 
act  of  disobedience  to  law.  The  resolution  was, 
therefore,  rejected  by  a  decided  majority. 

A  week  later  the  President  sent  to  Congress 
a  message,  in  which  he  gave  his  reasons  for  the 
removal  of  Secretary  Stanton.  The  reasons  were  not  satisfactory;  and,  a  month  later  (January  i },  1868), 
the  Senate  reinstated  the  former  Secretary  of  War,  when  General  Grant  quietly  retired  from  the  office. 
This  act  enraged  the  President,  and  he  reproached  the  general-in-chief  for  yielding  to  the  implied  commands 
of  the  Senate  to  retire.  He  charged  him  with  having  broken  his  promises;  and  Johnson  tried  to  injure 
Grant's  reputation  as  a  citizen  and  a  soldier.  In  the  correspondence  between  them,  which  found  its  way 
to  the  public,  a  question  of  veracity  between  the  President  and  the  general-in-chief  arose;  and,  finally, 
the  latter  felt  compelled  to  say  to  the  irate  Chief  Magistrate:  "When  my  honor  as  a  soldier  and  my 
integrity  as  a  man  have  been  so  violently  assailed,  pardon  me  for  saying  that  I  can  but  regard  this  whole 
matter,  from  beginning  to  end,  as  an  attempt  to  involve  me  in  the  resistance  of  law  for  which  you  hesitated 
to  assume  the  responsibility  in  orders,  and  thus  to  destroy  my  character  before  the  country."  The 
President  did  not  deny  the  truth  of  this  damaging  charge,  and  the  correspondence  ceased. 

^  Congress  now  steadily  advanced  in  the  adoption  of  measures  for  the  restoration  of  the  Union  on  the 
basis  of  justice,  by  providing  for  conventions  of  the  people  in  the  disorganized  States  for  forming  new 
revising  old  constitutions,  and  electing  representatives  in  the  National  Legislature.  They  had  also,  by 
law,  given  enlarged  powers  to  the  general-in-chief  for  the  administration  of  military  government  in  those 
States,  and  had  deprived  the  President  of  power  to  interfere  in  the  matter,  when  Mr.  Johnson  startled 
the  country  by  an  act  bolder  in  aspect  than  any  he  had  yet  attempted.  It  was  the  issuing  of  an  order  on 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ENGINEERS  AT  GENERAL 
MCCLELLAX'S  HEADQUARTERS 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


467 


k  mi 


HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY  OK  THE  POTOMAC  AND  OTHER  VIEWS 


468 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    }V  A  R 


the  2ist  of  February  (1868)  directing  Mr.  Stanton  to  vacate  the  office  of  Secretary  of  War;  also  another 
order  to  Adjutant-General  Lorenzo  B.  Thomas,  to  enter  and  take  the  place  of  the  deposed  Secretary. 
These  orders  were  officially  communicated  to  the  Senate  on  the  same  day,  and  drew  from  that  body  a 
resolution  that  the  President  had  no  authority,  under  the  Constitution,  for  his  act.  Meanwhile  Thomas 
had  proceeded  to  the  War  Department  and  demanded  the  seals  and  the  authority  with  which  the  President 
had  invested  him.  Mr.  Stanton,  his  official  superior,  refused  to  yield  them,  and  ordered  Thomas  to  return 
to  the  duties  of  his  proper  office.  The  President,  satisfied  that  he  would  not  be  permitted  to  use  military 

force  to  eject  Mr.  Stanton,  did  not 
attempt  it,  and  that  officer  re 
tained  his  place. 

The  patience  and  forbearance 
of  Congress  were  now  exhausted. 
This  action  of  the  President  was 
such  a  flagrant  violation  of  law  and 
open  defiance  of  the  Legislature, 
that  on  the  following  day  (Febru 
ary  22,  1868)  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  by  a  vote  of  126  to  47— 
an  almost  strictly  party  vote  (only 
two  Republicans  voting  with  the 
minority) — "Resolved,  That  An 
drew  Johnson,  President  of  the 
United  States,  be  impeached  of 
high  crimes  and  misdemeanors." 
A  week  later,  a  committee  of  the 
House,  appointed  for  the  purpose, , 
presented  articles  of  impeachment, ; 
nine  in  number;  and  these,  with 
slight  alterations,  were  accepted. 
They  charged:  (i)  Unlawfully  ordering  the  removal  of  Mr.  Stanton,  as  Secretary  of  War,  in  violation  of 
the  provisions  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act;  (2)  unlawfully  appointing  General  Lorenzo  B.  Thomas,  as 
Secretary  of  War  ad  interim;  (3)  substantially  the  same  as  the  second  charge,  with  the  additional  declara 
tion  that  there  was,  at  the  time  of  the  appointment  of  General  Thomas,  no  vacancy  in  the  office  of  the 
Secretary  of  War;  (4)  conspiring  with  one  Lorenzo  Thomas,  and  other  persons  to  the  House  unknown, 
to  prevent,  by  intimidation  and  threats,  Mr.  Stanton,  the  legally  appointed  Secretary  of  War,  from  holding 
office;  (5)  conspiring  with  General  Thomas  and  others  to  hinder  the  execution  of  the  Tenure  of  Office 
Act,  and,  in  pursuance  of  this  conspiracy,  attempting  to  prevent  Mr.  Stanton  from  acting  as  Secretary 
of  War;  (6)  conspiring  with  General  Thomas  and  others  to  take  forcible  possession  of  the  property  in 
the  War  Department;  (7)  and  (8)  substantially  the  charge  of  conspiring  to  prevent  the  execution  of  the 
Tenure  of  Office  Act,  and  for  taking  possession  of  the  War  Department;  (9)  charged  that  the  President 
called  before  him  the  commander  of  the  forces  in  the  Department  of  Washington,  and  declared  to  him 
that  a  law, passed  on  the  3oth  of  June,  1867,  directing  that  "all  orders  and  instructions  relating  to  military 
operations,  issued  by  the  President  or  Secretary  of  War,  shall  be  issued  by  the  General  of  the  Army,  and 
in  case  of  his  inability,  through  the  next  in  rank,"  was  unconstitutional,  and  not  binding  upon  the  com 
mander  of  the  Department  of  Washington ;  the  intent  being  to  induce  the  commander  to  violate  the  law. 
Thaddeus  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania,  Benjamin  F.  Butler  of  Massachusetts,  John  A.  Bingham  of  Ohio, 
George  S.  Boutwell  of  Massachusetts,  James  F.  Wilson  of  Iowa,  Thomas  Williams  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
John  A.  Logan  of  Illinois,  were  appointed  managers  of  the  impeachment  case,  on  the  part  of  the  House 
of  Representatives.  The  chief  management  of  the  case  was  intrusted  to  Mr.  Butler.  At  this  stage  of 
the  proceedings  the  Democratic  members  of  the  House,  to  the  number  of  forty-five,  entered  a  formal 
protest  against  the  whole  action  in  the  matter. 

On  the  3d  of  March  (1868)  the  managers  presented  two  additional  charges  against  the  President, 
which  were  adopted  by  the  House,  as  a  part  of  the  impeachment  indictment.  The  first  charged  that  the 
President  had,  by  inflammatory  speeches  during  his  journey,  already  mentioned,  attempted,  with  a  design 
to  cast  aside  the  authority  of  Congress,  to  bring  that  body  into  disgrace,  and  to  excite  the  odium  and 
resentment  of  the  people  against  Congress  and  the  laws  they  enacted.  The  second  charged  that  in  August, 
1866,  the  President,  in  a  public  speech  at  Washington,  declared  that  Congress  was  not  a  body  authorized, 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


469 


v/,; 


£1  if 


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SENTRY  DUTY  IN  WINTER 


SfMMKR  CAMP  SCENE 


470 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


GENERAL  JOHN  B.  GORDON,  C.  S.  A. 


by  the  Constitution  to  exercise  legislative  powers.  They  then  specified  many  of  the  President's  offences 
in  endeavoring,  by  unlawful  means,  to  prevent  the  execution  of  laws  passed  by  Congress. 

These  preliminary  proceedings  toward  impeachment  filled  the  loyal  heart  of  the  nation  with  the  most 

profound  satisfaction.  Letters  and  telegrams  covered  the  desks  of 
members  of  Congress,  all  urging  the  most  speedy  and  vigorous  action 
toward  impeachment.  Appended  is  a  copy  of  a  despatch  from  Governor 
Oglesby,  of  Illinois,  which  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  tone  of  the  communi 
cations  and  expressive  of  the  feelings  of  the  people.  It  is  dated  "Spring 
field,  Illinois;  Executive  Mansion,  February  22,  1868,"  and  is  as  follows: 

' '  The  usurpations  of  Andrew  Johnson  have  created  a  profound  sen 
sation  in  this  State.  His  last  act  is  that  of  a  traitor.  His  treason  must 
be  checked.  The  duty  of  Congress  seems  plain.  The  people  of  Illinois, 
attached  to  the  Union,  I  firmly  believe  demand  his  impeachment,  and  will 
heartily  sustain  such  action  by  Congress.  The  peace  of  the  country  is 
not  to  be  trifled  with  by  this  presumptuous  demagogue.  We  know  the 
National  Congress  will  proceed  wisely  and  cautiously ;  but  let  it  proceed. 
Millions  of  loyal  hearts  are  panting  to  stand  by  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 
Have  no  fear.  All  will  be  well.  Liberty  and  order  will  again  triumph." 

On  the  25th  of  February,  Messrs.  Stevens  and  Boutwell  appeared 
before  the  Senate  in  behalf  of  the  managers,  and  in  the  name  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  impeached  "Andrew  Johnson  of  high  crimes 
and  misdemeanors,"  and  demanded  of  that  body  an  order  for  the  accused 

President  to  answer  the  impeachment.  The  Senate,  by  a  provision  of  the  National  Constitution,  composes 
a  jury  for  the  trial  of  such  cases;  and  on  the  5th  of  March  (1868)  it  was  organized  as  such,  with  Chief- 
Justice  Salmon  P.  Chase  as  president  of  the  court.  The  accused  was  summoned  to  appear  at  the  bar  on 
the  7th;  but  the  Senate  was  not  formally  opened  as  a  High  Court  of  Impeachment  until  the'i,3th,  when 
he  did  so  appear,  by  his  counsel,  who  asked  for  a  delay  of  forty  days  wherein  to  prepare  an  answer  to  the 
indictment.  Ten  days  were  granted,  and  the  answer  was  presented  on  the  23d,  when  the  House  of 
Representatives,  which  was  the  accuser,  solemnly  denied  every  averment  of  that  answer.  Then  the 
President's  counsel  asked  for  a  postponement  of  the  trial  for  thirty  days,  but  only  seven  were  allowed. 

On  the  3oth  of  March  the  trial  was  begun.  Public  feeling  was  profoundly  excited  by  the  event,  and 
there  was  danger  that  the  reason  and  judgment  of  the  Senate  might  be  swayed  by  unwise  influences. 
Fortunately  there  were  men  in  that  body  whose  prescience  clearly  comprehended  the  future,  and  they 
were  governed  by  that  more  than  by  their  feelings  or  the  mandates  of  present  expediency.  All  through 
the  trial,  these  men  counselled  moderation,  and  their  advice  was  heeded.  They  pointed  out  the  danger, 
that  a  verdict  of  guilty  might  create  greater  evils  than  the  foolish  President  could  possibly  inflict,  in  his 
comparatively  helpless  state.  When,  after  an  examination  of  witnesses,  which  was  concluded  on  the  22d 
of  April,  the  presentation  of  the  arguments  of  counsel,  which  continued 
until  the  5th  of  May,  and  the  debates,  which  consumed  twenty  days 
more,  the  votes  of  the  fifty-four  Senators  present  were  taken  on  the  ver 
dict,  thirty-five  of  them  were  for  conviction,  and  nineteen  were  for  acquit 
tal.  Some  of  the  latter  votes  were  by  Republicans.  As  two-thirds  of 
the  votes  were  necessary  for  conviction,  the  President  was  acquitted  by 
one  vote. 

This  verdict  caused  Secretary  Stanton  to  send  a  letter  to  the  Presi 
dent,  informing  him  that  as  the  resolution  of  the  Senate  reinstating  the 
Secretary  had  not  been  supported  by  two-thirds  of  that  body  present  and 
voting  upon  the  articles  of  impeachment,  he  had  relinquished  the  office ; 
whereupon  Mr.  Johnson  nominated  General  John  M.  Schofield  to  be  Mr. 
Stanton's  successor.  The  President,  in  his  communication  nominating 
General  Schofield,  said  he  was  to  succeed  "E.  M.  Stanton,  removed." 
The  Senate  adopted  the  following  preamble  and  resolution:  "Whereas, 
the  order  of  the  President  removing  Secretary  Stanton  from  office  was 
unconstitutional  and  illegal;  but  on  account  of  Mr.  Stanton  having, 
on  Tuesday,  relinquished  said  office,  therefore,  Resolved,  That  the 
Senate  do  advise  and  consent  to  the  appointment  of  General  Schofield." 


BRIO. -GENERAL  L.  C.  BAKER  OF  THE 
SECRET  .SERVICE 


A    II  IS  TOR  V    OF     THE    CIVIL     II"  A  R 


471 


SCENES  AT  HEADQUARTERS  OK  THE  ARMY  01-  THE  I'OTOMAC 


472 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


AT  MESS 


The  brilliancy  and  intrinsic  value  of  General  Grant's  military  services  in  behalf  of  the  Republic,  and 
his  firmness  and  patriotism  in  defeating  the  designs  of  President  Johnson  at  the  capital,  endeared  him  to 
the  loyal  people;  and  on  the  igth  of  June  (1868)  the  Republicans,  in  National  Convention  assembled  at 
Chicago,  nominated  him  for  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
Schuyler  Colfax  of  Indiana  for  Vice-President.  On  the  4th  of 
July  following,  a  National  Convention  of  representatives  of  the 
Democratic  party  met  in  Tammany  Hall,  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  nominated  Horatio  Seymour  of  the  State  of  New  York 
for  President,  and  Francis  P.  Blair  of  Missouri  for  Vice-President. 
Wade  Hampton,  N.  B.  Forrest,  and  other  prominent  Confederate 
leaders,  were  members  of  that  Convention,  and  were  controlling 
architects  of  the  platform  there  adopted,  in  which  the  acts  of 
Congress  for  the  reorganization  of  the  Union  were  declared  to  be 
"usurpations,  unconstitutional,  revolutionary  and  void." 

A  few  days  before  the  meeting  of  the  Convention,  General 
Blair,  the  nominee  for  Vice-President,  wrote  a  letter  to  James  O. 
Brodhead,  to  be  used  at  the  Convention.  In  that  letter  he  said, 
in  contemplation  of  the  election  of  the  nominees:  "There  is  but 
one  way  to  restore  the  Government  and  the  Constitution,  and 
that  is  for  the  President-elect  to  declare  these  acts  of  Congress 
null  and  void;  compel  the  army  to  undo  its  usurpations  at  the 
South;  disperse  the  carpet-bag  State  governments  (governments 
established  under  the  authority  of  Congress) ;  allow  the  white 

people  to  organize  their  own  governments,  and  elect  Senators  and  Representatives.  The  House  of 
Representatives  will  contain  a  majority  of  Democrats  from  the  North,  and  they  will  admit  the  Repre 
sentatives  elected  by  the  white  people  of  the  South;  and  with  the  co-operation  of  the  President,  it  will  not 
be  difficult  to  compel  the  Senate  to  submit,  once  more,  to  the  obligations  of  the  Constitution." 

This  revolutionary  scheme — a  scheme  for  inaugurating  another  Civil  War — was  so  acceptable  to  the 
Convention,  that  its  author  was  nominated  for  the  second  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people.  But  it  was  so 
distasteful  to  vast  numbers  of  the  patriotic  and  thinking  members  of  the  Democratic  party,  that  the 
nominees  were  defeated  at  the  polls  by  an  overwhelming  vote  that  elected  Grant  and  Colfax. 

During  the  unfortunate  and  unseemly  controversy  between  President  Johnson  and  the  National 
Congress,  the  work  of  reorganization,  according  to  the  plans  of  the  latter,  had  been  going  forward  vigorously 
in  spite  of  the  factious  interference  of  the  Chief  Magistrate.  A  Fourteenth  Amendment  had  been  proposed 
by  a  joint  resolution  of  Congress,  adopted  on  the  i3th  of  June,  1866.  This  amendment  had  been  ratified 
by  a  sufficient  number  of  States  to  make  it  a  part  of  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  in  July,  1868,  and  on 
the  28th  of  that  month  the  fact  was  officially  promulgated  by  the  Secretary  of  State.  That  amendment 
secured  the  rights  of  citizenship  to  all  persons  "born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States  and  subject  to 

the  jurisdiction  thereof";  politically  disabled  a  certain  class  of  chief 
offenders  in  the  insurrection ;  declared  the  validity  of  the  National  debt ; 
and  forbade  the  payment  of  any  part  of  the  so-called  ' '  Confederate ' '  debt. 
Refer  to  the  National  Constitution,  in  the  Appendix,  for  the  text  of  this 
amendment. 

Seven  of  the  disorganized  States,  namely,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana  and  Texas,  had  rat 
ified  the  amendment;  and  having,  by  that  act,  by  the  adoption  of  State 

RJBf^Jj.  constitutions  approved  by  Congress,  and  by  the  election  of  National 

Senators  and  Representatives,  complied  with  the  prescriptions  of  Con- 
"  gress,  they  took  their  places  as  revived  States  of  the  Union.     But  the 

perfect  reorganization  was  not  effected  until  the  spring  of  1872,  when,  on 
the  23d  of  May,  the  remaining  three  States  having  taken  their  places 
with  their  sisters,  every  seat  in  Congress  was  filled,  for  the  first  time 
since  the  winter  of  1861,  when  members  from  several  of  the  slave-labor 
States  abdicated  them.  On  the  previous  day  (May  22,  1872)  an  Amnesty 
Bill  was  passed  for  removing  the  political  disabilities  imposed  by  the 
third  section  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  of  the  Constitution,  from 
GENERAL  MANSFIELD  LOVEI.L,  c.  s.  A.  all  persons  excepting  members  of  the  Thirty-sixth  Congress,  heads  of 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


473 


THE  "COMMANDER  BARNEY"  USED  AS  A  GUNBOAT 


CAMP  BUTLER  NEAR  SPRINGFIELD,  ILL. 


474 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


GENERAL  JAMES  LONGSTREET,  C.  S.  A. 


departments,  members  of  diplomatic  corps,  and  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  who  had  engaged  in  the 
rebellion. 

At  a  little  past  midsummer  (1868),  when  all  but  three  States  had  been  reorganized  and  civil  govern 
ment  had  been  established  in  the  restored  States,  the  general-in-chief  issued  a  proclamation  (July  28) 

declaring  that  so  much  of  the  "reconstruction"  acts  as  provided  for 
military  rule  in  the  South,  had  become  inoperative.  At  the  same  time 
the  President  continued  to  display  his  factious  spirit  in  a  most  ludicrous 
and  futile  manner.  He  asserted  that  the  State  governments  in  the 
South,  established  by  an  illegal  Congress,  were  illegal,  and,  consequently, 
their  ratification  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  was  of  no  effect,  and  it 
was  not  ratified.  In  order  to  forestall  and  weaken  the  operation  of  a 
part  of  that  amendment,  he  issued  a  proclamation  on  the  4th  of  July 
(1868)  declaring  general  and  unconditional  pardon  and  amnesty  for  all 
who  had  been  engaged  in  acts  of  rebellion,  excepting  a  few  who  were 
under  presentment  or  indictment  for  the  offence.  This  conduct  of  the 
President  was  so  foreboding  of  mischief,  that"  when  Congress  took  a 
recess  in  August,  it  was  agreed  to  meet  again  in  September,  should  the 
public  good  require;  but  the  Presidential  election  absorbed  so  much  of 
the  attention  of  Mr.  Johnson  and  the  whole  people,  that  there  was  a  lull 
in  the  war  between  the  Executive  and  Legislative  branches  of  the  Gov 
ernment,  and  the  recess  continued  until  the  regular  session  in  December. 
Very  soon  after  Congress  met,  the  President  made  another  foolish  on 
slaught  upon  the  authority  of  that  body  when,  on  Christmas  day,  he 
issued  a  proclamation  which  declared,  in  defiance  of  the  provisions  of 
the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  unconditional  and  unreserved  pardon  to  all  and  every  person  who  had 
participated  in  the  late  rebellion. 

Before  the  adjournment  of  Congress  for  the  recess,  the  Senate  had  ratified  an  important  treaty  with 
China,  which  Anson  Burlingame,  the  American  ambassador  in  that  country,  had  negotiated.  It  estab 
lished  mutual  intercourse  between  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  those  of  China,  and  secured  to 
each  mutual  and  equal  privileges  of  trade,  travel,  education,  and  religion.  This  was  a  concession  never 
before  made  by  the  Chinese  to  any  nation.  Mr.  Burlingame  brought  the  treaty  with  him,  and  was 
accompanied  by  several  high  Chinese  officials.  He  had  won  the  entire  confidence  of  the  government, 
and  had  been  appointed  by  the  Emperor  a  general  Commissioner  to  several  of  the  Christian  powers. 

The  result  of  the  Presidential  election  gave  increased  strength  to  the  Republican  party.  This 
condition  implied  increased  responsibility,  and  the  need  of  wisdom  and  sound  judgment  in  the  management 
of  public  affairs.  The  incidents  of  the  war  had  produced  causes  of  irritation  between  the  governments  of 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  and  most  delicate  questions  of  national  responsibility  had  been 
raised.  At  home,  that  chronic  evil,  war  with  the  Indians,  was  then  raging  on  the  great  Western  Plains; 
and  there  was  a  wide  difference  of  opinion  in  the  public  mind  as  to  the 
best  methods  of  putting  an  end  to  the  strife.  There  was  great  exaspera 
tion  on  both  sides,  along  the  frontiers.  There  was  an  abiding  sense  of 
mutual  injury;  while  all  well-informed  persons  had  a  clear  conviction 
that  the  deep-rooted  animosity  of  the  Indians  toward  the  white  people 
was  occasioned  by  the  rank  injustice  which  the  former  had  suffered  at 
the  hands  of  the  latter.  With  this  conviction  there  was  a  widespread- 
ing  desire  that  a  policy  toward  the  barbarians,  founded  on  justice  and 
kindness,  should  be  pursued.  But  military  leaders  in  the  war,  contem 
plating  the  barbarians  from  a  point  of  view  opposite  to  that  occupied  by 
the  Christian  philanthropist,  recommended  the  most  vigorous  and  unre 
lenting  measures  toward  them,  and  for  that  purpose  it  was  proposed  to 
vest  the  entire  control  of  the  Indians  in  the  War  Department.  "Indian 
tribes,"  said  a  distinguished  general,  "should  not  be  dealt  with  as  inde 
pendent  nations ;  they  are  wards  of  the  Government,  and  should  be  made 
to  respect  the  lives  and  property  of  citizens.  The  Indian  history  of  this 
country  for  the  last  three  hundred  years  shows  that  of  all  the  great 
nations  of  Indians,  only  remnants  have  been  saved.  The  same  fate 
awaits  those  now  hostile;  and  the  best  way  for  the  Government  is  to  GENERAL  WILLIAM  MAHONE,  C.  S.  A. 


,1     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


475 


THE  BATTLEFIELD  OF  FAIR  OAKS  AND  OTHER  VIEWS 


476 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


RETURNING  TROOPS,  WASHINGTON,  1865 


make  them  poor  by  the  destruction  of  their  stock,  and 
then  settle  them  on  the  lands  allotted  them."  Another 
general,  equally  distinguished,  formulated  the  estimate 
of  the  Indian  character  by  the  average  frontiersmen,  by 
saying,  "The  only  good  Indian  is  a  dead  Indian." 

These  indefensible  propositions  and  this  unjust  judg 
ment  have  been  too  long  the  inspiration  of  our  methods 
of  treating  the  Indians.  Fortunately  the  ethics  of  the 
mailed  hand — Might  makes  Right — does  not  wholly  pre 
vail,  and  a  more  humane  policy  has  been  adopted. 
President  Grant,  soon  after  his  inauguration  in  the  spring 
of  1869,  recommended  the  appointment,  as  Indian  agents, 
of  several  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  or  Quakers, 
who  are  noted  for  their  uprightness  and  peaceful  prin 
ciples  and  conduct.  Congress  approved  the  recommen 
dation  of  the  President,  and  early  in  April  (1869)  sixteen 
Friends  were  chosen  to  carry  out  the  policy  of  justice. 

The  radical  defect  in  the  general  policy  of  the  Gov 
ernment  is  in  its  treatment  of  the  barbarians,  namely, 
holding  them  as  foreigners  instead  of  as  citizens,  and  mak 
ing  formal  treaties  with  them ;  or  as  children  having  no  legal  rights.  The  peace-policy  has  not  yet  had 
a  fair  trial.  Its  excellent  fruits  are  seen  in  many  places,  and  give  abundant  evidence  that  if  it  could  be 
faithfully  carried  out,  under  a  wiser  political  plan,  it  would  solve  the  great  problem  by  pacifying  the 
Indians,  and  tend  to  their  rapid  advancement  in  civilization.  Evidences  abound  in  the  later  reports  of 
the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  of  a  rapid  advancement  of  the  arts  of  peace,  especially  of  agriculture, 
among  the  Indian  tribes.  Commissioner  E.  P.  Smith,  in  his  report  for  1875,  says:  "The  civilization  of 
the  Indians  is  not  only  entirely  possible,  but  is  fairly  under  way."  He  reported  that  out  of  the  entire 
Indian  population  within  the  domain  of  the  United  States  (278,963  souls),  40,638  men  and  boys  supported 
themselves  by  the  labor  of  their  own  hands.  About  one-sixth  of  the  barbarian  population  in  our  Republic 
had  become  producers!  "Five  years  ago,"  said  the  Commissioner,  "10,329  Indian  families  were  living 
in  houses.  This  year  shows  19,902  ;  a  gain  of  92  per  cent."  He  also  reported  that  the  number  of  children 
attending  school  was  10,600. 

These  facts  show  that  our  barbarian  brethren  are  capable,  not  only  of  civilization,  but  of  becoming 
orderly  and  valuable  citizens.  As  a  savage  hunter,  the  Indian  is  expensive.  During  only  six  years — 
1870  to  1876 — our  Government  made  appropriations  for  the  support  of  the  Indians  on  their  reservations 
(exclusive  of  the  cost  of  military  movements  to  keep  them  from  "picking  and  stealing")  of  the  large 

sum  of  nearly  $44,000,000.  Treat  the  Indian  as  a  man 
and  a  citizen,  and  wars  and  unprofitable  expenditures  on 
his  account  would  cease. 

Immediately  after  the  assembling  of  Congress  in 
December,  1868,  Mr.  Cragin  of  New  Hampshire  offered 
an  amendment  of  the  National  Constitution,  for  securing 
the  elective  franchise  to  the  freedmen.  The  proposition 
was  debated  for  several  weeks,  and  on  the  2 6th  of  Feb 
ruary,  1869,  Congress  adopted  a  joint  resolution  recom 
mending  the  following,  as  a  Fifteenth  Amendment  of  the 
Constitution : 

"SECTION  i.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United 
States  to  vote  shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the 
United  States,  or  by  any  State,  on  account  of  race,  color, 
or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

"SECTION  2.  The  Congress,  by  appropriate  legisla 
tion,  may  enforce  the  provisions  of  this  article." 

This  amendment  was  immediately  submitted  to  the 

authorities  of  the  several  States  for  action,  and  was  rati- 
RETURNING  TROOPS  ON  PENNSYLVANIA  AVENUE,  ^11  •  -±  i_  TI  r         ±1        1  r  ii. 

WASHINGTON   1805  fied  by  the  requisite  number.     Before  the  close  ot  that 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


477 


PRESIDENT  JOHNSON,  GENERAL  GRANT  AND  OTHERS  VIEWING  RETURNING  TROOPS  TO  WASHINGTON 


STORK-IIorSES    AT    ClTY    POINT 


478 


.4    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


LIEUT. -COLONEL  HORACE  PORTER 
OF  GRANT'S  STAFF 


session,  an  important  financial  bill  was  adopted,  of  which  the  following  was  the  chief  provision:  'The 
faith  of  the  United  States  is  solemnly  pledged  to  the  payment,  in  coin,  or  its  equivalent,  of  all  interest- 
bearing  obligations  of  the  United  States,  except  in  cases  where  the  law  authorizing  the  issue  of  any  such 

obligations  has  expressly  provided  that  the  same  may  be  paid  in  lawful 
money  or  other  currency  than  gold  and  silver."  This  act  was  not  only 
just,  but  expedient.  It  was  intended  to  strengthen  the  credit  of  the 
Government  at  home  and  abroad,  and  that  was  accomplished. 

The  turbulent  administration  of  Mr.  Johnson  closed  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1869,  when  Ulysses  Simpson  Grant  was  inaugurated  the  eight 
eenth  President  of  the  United  States.  The  oath  of  office  was  admin 
istered  by  Chief-Justice  Chase,  and  the  Senate  confirmed  his  cabinet 
appointments,  after  some  necessary  changes,  as  follows :  Hamilton  Fish, 
Secretary  of  State;  George  S.  Boutwell,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  John 
A.  Rawlins,  Secretary  of  War;  Adolph  E.  Borie,  Secretary  of  the  Navy; 
Jacob  D.  Coxe,  Secretary  of  the  Interior;  A.  J.  Creswell,  as  Postmaster- 
General;  and  E.  Rockwood  Hoar,  as  Attorney-General. 

On  the  day  when  Johnson  retired  from  the  chair  of  state,  he  issued  a 
long  address  to  his  countrymen  in  vindication  of  his  course  as  Chief 
Magistrate.  He  recited  his  most  prominent  acts,  declaring  the  necessity 
for  them;  and  having  done  this  he  assailed  the  majority  of  the  Congress 
with  his  usual  vehemence  of  tone,  accusing  them  of  acting  in  "utter  dis 
regard  of  the  Constitution."  "Since  the  close  of  the  war,"  he  said,  "they 
have  persistently  sought  to  influence  the  prejudices  engendered  between 
the  sections,  to  retard  the  restoration  of  peace  and  harmony,  and  by  every  means  to  keep  open  and  exposed 
to  the  poisonous  breath  of  party  passion  the  terrible  wounds  of  a  four  years'  war.  They  have  prevented 
the  return  of  peace  and  the  restoration  of  the  Union ;  in  every  way  rendered  delusive  the  purposes,  promises 
and  pledges,  by  which  the  army  was  marshalled,  treason  rebuked,  and  rebellion  crushed,  and  made  the 
liberties  of  the  people  and  the  rights  and  powers  of  the  President  objects  of  constant  attack." 

This  public  exhibition  of  the  retiring  President's  weakness;  his  inaccuracy  of  statements;  his  unjust 
and  untrue  accusations,  and  his  manifestation  of  blind  anger,  mortified  his  real  friends  and  elicited  a  smile 
of  pity  from  those  who  were  assailed.  He  seemed  to  forget  that  he  was  the  executive  and  not  the 
legislative  or  judicial  branch  of  the  Government;  that  it  was  the  duty 
of  Congress  to  make  laws,  and  his  to  see  that  they  were  executed ;  that 
after  he  had  expressed  his  reasons  for  the  disapproval  of  an  act,  in  a 
veto  message,  and  that  act  became  a  law  by  a  constitutional  vote,  it 
was  his  solemn  duty  to  enforce  that  law;  and  that  the  Supreme  Court, 
and  not  the  Executive,  was  the  sole  judge  of  the  constitutionality  of  an 
enactment. 

The  career  of  Andrew  Johnson  exhibits  a  peculiar  phase  in  our  social 
system — the  possibilities  that  wait  upon  citizens  of  the  most  humble 
origin.  Mr.  Johnson  was  born  in  Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  late  in  1808. 
His  parents  were  poor  and  lowly;  and  at  the  age  of  four  years  he  was 
bereft  of  his  father.  Without  an  hour's  schooling,  he  was  apprenticed  to 
a  tailor  at  the  age  of  ten  years;  and  during  that  service  he  taught  himself 
to  read.  With  his  own  hands  he  supported  his  mother,  and  with  her  he 
moved  to  Greenville,  East  Tennessee,  when  he  was  eighteen  years  of  age. 
There  he  soon  married  an  excellent  girl,  who  taught  him  to  write.  The 
energy  of  his  character,  his  sobriety  and  strength  of  mind,  commended 
him  to  the  citizens,  and  he  was  elected  alderman  of  Greenville  at  the 
age  of  twenty,  and  mayor  when  he  was  twenty-one.  °D>  C  S'  A- 

Mr.  Johnson  was  possessed  of  a  certain  kind  of  rugged  and  ready  oratory  that  made  him  very  popular; 
also  the  elements  and  aspirations  of  an  adroit  politician;  and  he  made  his  way  upward  in  the  path  of 
distinction  by  his  own  indomitable  will,  passing  successively  through  the  offices  of  alderman,  mayor, 
member  of  both  houses  of  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee,  presidential  elector,  member  of  Congress,  governor 
of  Tennessee,  national  Senator,  Vice-President,  and  Acting-President  of  the  United  States.  His  moral 
nature  was  more  feeble  than  his  ambition,  and  yielded  to  it;  and  in  his  career  as  President  that  weakness 
prevented  his  achieving  most  enviable  fame  as  a  patriot  and  a  benefactor  of  his  race. 


I 


A    II I  STORY    O  F    T  HE    CIV  1 L    W  A  R 


479 


BATTLEFIELD  OK  OAINES'  MILLS  AND  OTHHR  VIK\\> 


480 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


CHRONOLOGICAL  SUMMARY  AND  RECORD— Continued 


(Continued  from  Section  14) 

APRIL,  1865 

1 — Five  Forks,  Va.  1st,  2d  and  3d  Cavalry  Divisions  and  Fifth  Corps. 
Union  124  killed,  706  wounded.  Confed.  3,000  killed  and  wounded, 
5,500  captured. 

2 — Fall  of  Petersburg.  Va.  Second,  Sixth,  Xinth  and  Twenty-fourth  Corps. 
Union  290  killed,  2, 505  wounded,  500  missing.  Confed.  3,000 
prisoners. 

3 — Xamozin  Church  and  Willicomack,  Va.  Custer's  Cavalry.  Union  10 
killed,  85  wounded. 

3 — Fall  of  Richmond,  Va.  Confed.  0,000  prisoners,  of  whom  5,000  were  sick 
and  wounded. 

5 — Amelia  Springs,  Va.     Crook's  Cav.      Union  20  killed,  90  wounded. 

6 — Sailor's  Creek,  Va.  Second  and  Sixth  Corps  and  Sheridan's  Cav. 
Union  100  killed,  1.014  wounded.  Confed.  1,000  killed.  1..SOO 
wounded,  0,000  prisoners. 

High  Bridge,  Appomattox  River,  Va.     Portion  of  Twenty-fourth  Corps. 
Union  10  killed,  31  wounded,  1,000  missing  and  captured. 

7 — F*armville,  Va.     Second  Corps.      Union  055  killed  and  wounded. 


8  and  9 — Appomattox  C.  H.,  Va.  Twenty-fourth  Corps,  one  Division  of 
the  Twenty-fifth  Corps  and  Sheridan's  Cav.  Union  200  killed  and 
wounded.  Confed.  500  killed. 

9 — Lee  surrendered  to  the  Armies  of  the  Potomac  and  James;  Lieut. -Gen. 
U.  S.  Grant.  Confed.  26,000  prisoners. 

17 — Surrender  of  Mosby  to  Maj.-Gen.  Hancock.     Confed.  700  prisoners. 

26 — Johnson  surrendered  to  the  Armies  of  the  Tennessee.  Georgia  and  Ohio; 
Maj.-Gen.  \V.  T.  Sherman.  Confed.  29,924  prisoners. 

MAY,  1865 

10 — Capture  of  Jefferson  Davis  at  Irwinsville,  Ga.  1st  Wis.  and  4th  Mich. 
Cav.  Union  2  killed,  4  wounded,  caused  by  the  pursuing  parties 
firing  into  each  other. 

Tallahassee.  Fla.     Surrender  of  Sam  Jones's  command  to  Detachment  of 
Wilson's  Cav.;  Maj.-Gen.  McCook.     Confed.  8,000  prisoners. 

11— Chalk  Bluff,  Ark.  Surrender  of  Jeff.  Thompson's  command  to  forces 
under  Gen.  Dodge.  Confed,  7,454  prisoners. 

13— Palmetto  Ranche,  Tex.  34th  Ind.,  62d  U.  S.  Colored  and  2d  Tex.  Cav. 
Union  118  killed  and  wounded. 

26 — Surrender  of  Kirby  Smith  to  Maj.-Gen.  Canby's  command.  Confed. 
20,000  prisoners. 


STATISTICAL  EXHIBIT  OF  DEATHS  IX  THE  UNITED   STATES  ARMY  DURING 

THE  CIVIL  WAR 


STATES,   ETC. 

Killed 
in  action 

Died  of 
wounds 
received  in 
action 

Died  of 
disease 

Total, 
including 
causes  not 
previously 
enumerated 

Aggre 
gate 

Of 
ficers 

( 
4 
4 

81 

Men 

Of 
ficers 

Men 

Of 
ficers 

Men 

Of 
ficers 

Men 

IB 
225 
09 
114 
1,021 
2 
189 

25 
8 

1 

5 

2 

58 

30 
66 
33 
35 

787 

1 

12 

S 

of 

249 
1,250 
330 
117 
3,010 
4 
421 

189 
187 
13 
22,470 
17,572 
8,900 
1,047 
7,122 
03( 
5,739 
1.782 
6,947 
9,459 
1,810 
66 
9,350 
158 
29 
2.084 
2,800 
139 
24,200 
201 
21,447 
21 
15,713 
710 
5,192 
101 
3.051 
29 
10 
2.475 
7,903 

6 

28 
21 
9 
204 

40 
r 

'  9is 

640 
318 
66 
271 
12 
271 
78 
446 
319 
63 

'  3i7 
3 

100 
189 
13 
1,530 
9 
957 
1 
1,092 
45 
99 
1 
136 

2 
103 
302 

339 
1,685 
552 
314 
5,150 
6 
842 

281 
213 
15 
33,919 
20,032 
12,083 
2,564 
10.503 
933 
9,127 
2,904 
13,490 
14,434 
2,521 
78 
13.508 
230 
33 
4,710 
5,505 
201 
45,004 
351 
34,518 
44 
32,091 
1,270 
6.078 
140 
5,088 
42 
20 
3.914 
11,999 

315 
1.713 
573 
323 
5,354 
6 
882 

290 
215 

15 
34,834 
20,072 
13.1X11 
2,030  • 
10.774 
945 
9,398 
2,982 
13,942 
14,753 
2,584 
78 
13,835 
239 
33 
4  SS2 
5,754 
277 
40,534 
360 
35,475 
45 
33.183 
1,321 
0.777 
141 
5,224 
42 
22 
4,017 
12.301 

Arkansas  
California  

Connecticut.  .  .  . 
Dakota 

Delaware  
District  of 
Columbia 
Florida.  . 

18 
3 

11 
1 

105 

12 
10 

10 

t 

\ 

'  310 
213 
107 
27 
121 
3 
59 
25 
66 
78 
20 

'  'l!8 
2 

37 
28 

345 

4 
274 

188 
16 
44 
1 
32 

"2 
20 
105 

Illinois  

339 
244 
119 
24 
95 
4 
115 
33 
248 
156 
21 

102 

1 

5,535 
4,028 
1,94(1 
494 
1.390 
125 
1,058 
494 
3.457 
2,042 
373 

'  2,089 
29 
2 
990 
1,550 
54 
11,329 
25 
0,433 
9 
8,743 
278 
441 
8 
997 
4 

'717 
2,270 

212 
150 
82 
9 
39 
5 
90 
15 
120 
73 
11 

'    '(56 

43 
38 

371 
239 

'  270 
10 
16 

'  "34 

'"20 
76 

3,808 
2,815 
1,393 
210 
954 
80 
1,321 
307 
2,290 
1,577 
221 
3 
1,000 
5 

780 
870 
16 
0,013 
14 
4,514 
1 
5,038 
154 
202 
4 
711 
6 

449 
1,341 

Iowa  
Kansas  

Maryland  
Massachusetts.  . 

Minnesota  
Mississippi  
Missouri  
Nebraska  

New  Hampshire 
Xew  Jersey  
New  Mexico..  .  . 
New  York  
North  Carolina. 
Ohio  
Oregon  
Pennsylvania.  .  . 
Rhode  Island..  . 
Tennessee  

84 
114 
3 
772 
4 
402 
1 
008 
18 
25 

Vermont  
Virginia  
Washington.  .  .  . 
West  Virginia..  . 
Wisconsin  

04 

oi 

115 

Died  of                                        Total. 

Killed            wounds 

Died  of       :     including 

in  action    1  received  in 

disease       ,    causes  not 

STATES,  ETC. 

action 

previously 
enumerated 

Aggre 
gate 

Of 
ficers 

Men 

Of 
ficers 

Men 

Of 
ficers 

Men 

Of 
ficers 

Men 

Indian  Nations. 
Veteran  Reserve 

4 

82 

1 

20 

18 

757 

23 

995 

1,018 

Corps  

1 

20 

20 

1.398 

30j      1,042 

1,((72 

U.     S.     Veteran 

Volunteers.  .  . 

1 

3 

79 

4 

102 

lOti 

U.  S.  Volunteer 

Engineers  and 

Sharpshooters          9 

158 

5 

91 

3 

209 

17 

535 

552 

U.  S.   Volunteer 

Infantry  

6 

1 

6 

2 

200 

4 

239 

243 

General    and 

general      staff 

officers,   U.   S. 

Volunteers.  . 

50 

35 

1  13 

239 

239 

U.     S.     Colored 

Troops 

100 

1,015 

43 

1,130 

138 

29,018 

324 

30,523 

30,847 

Miscellaneous 

U.  S.  Vols  

13  .  . 

3 

202 

232 

232 

Regular  Army.  . 

'  '  '85 

1,202        59 

877 

'  '107 

2,985 

200 

5.538 

5,798 

RECAPITULATION" 


Total  non- 
prisoners  
Total  prisoners. 

Grand  aggregate 

4,142 

62,916 

2,124 

99 

38,816 
1.973 

2,712 
83 

2,795 

197.008 
24,783 

9.305 
219 

320.005 
29.279 

330,030 
29.498 

4,142 

02,916 

j.L'i1:; 

40,789 

221,791 

9,584 

349,944 

359,528 

The  quartermaster-general  reports  the  total  number  of  graves  under  the 
supervision  of  his  department  as  315,555.  only  172.400  of  which  number  have 
been  identified.  The  remainder.  143,155,  lie  in  graves  the  headstones  of  which 
are  marked  Unknown. 

Number  of  United  States  troops  captured  during  the  war,  212,008;  Con 
federate  troops  captured,  470,109. 

Number  of  United  States  troops  paroled  on  the  field,  10,431;  Confederate- 
troops  paroled  on  the  field,  248,599. 

Number  of  United  Srates  troops  who  died  while  prisoners,  29,725;  Confed 
erate  troops  who  died  while  prisoners,  20,774. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


481 


VIEWS  IN  THK  VICINITY  <>!••  KNOXVII.LE,  TKNN. 


4S2 


HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    II'. -1  R 


MAKING  CAMIONS  IN  FRONT  OF  PETERSBURG 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

Public  Affairs — "Alabama"  Claims — Financial  Affairs — National  Debt,  Banking  and  Currency — Suspension  and  Resumption  of  Specie 
Payments — Proposed  Amendment  of  the  Constitution — Pacific  Railway — Inter-Oceanic  Ship  Canal  Considered — Difficulties  with 
Cuba  and  Spain — The  "  Virginias  "  Affair — The  San  Domingo  Question — Samana  Bay  Company — Joint  High  Commission — Tribunal 
of  Arbitration  and  Its  Award — Decision  about  Boundary  on  the  Pacific — Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph — Ligitations — Marine  Teleg 
raphy — Appliances  of  the  Telegraph — Weather  Signaling — Revelations  of  the  Census — New  Apportionment — Pensions. 

A  USPICIOUS  omens  of  peace  and  prosperity  appeared  at    the    beginning    of    President    Grant's 

/"^    administration.     The  condition  of  public  affairs,  at  home  and  abroad,  seemed  to  promise  a  bright 

official  career  for  the  new  Chief  Magistrate.     The  only  cloud  seen  in  the  firmament  of  our  foreign 

relations  that  betokened  future  difficulties,  was  the  irritation  felt  concerning  the  depredations  of  the 

Alabama  under  the  tacit  sanction  of  the  British  government.     The  Government  of  the  United  States 

claimed  for  its  citizens  payment  for  the  damages  inflicted  upon  them  by  that  Anglo-Confederate  cruiser. 

To  effect  a  peaceful  solution  of  the  difficulty,  Reverdy  Johnson  of  Maryland  was  sent  to  England,  in 

1868,  to  negotiate  a  treaty  for  that  purpose;  but  his  mission  did  not  have  a  satisfactory  result.     The  treaty 

agreed  to  was  almost  universally  condemned  by  his  countrymen,  and  it  was  rejected  by  the  Senate  by  a 

vote  of  fifty-four  against  one.     Mr.  Johnson  was  recalled,  and  J.  Lothrop  Motley,  the  historian,  was 

appointed  American  Minister  to  the  British  court,  charged  with  the  negotiation  of  another  treaty  for  the 

Copyright,  1895,  by  CHARLES  F.  JOHNSON.     Copyright,  190"),  by  LOSSING  HISTORY  COMPANY.     Copyright,  1912,  by  THE  WAR  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION.  Inc. 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


485 


COMTE  DE  PARIS,  PRINCE  BE  JOINVII.LE,  DUKE  DE  CHARTRESS  AT  MESS  TABLE 
ALSO  THE  ABOVE  AND  FOREIGN  OFFICERS  AT  MCCLELLAN'S  HEADQUARTERS 


480) 


HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


PEABODY  FUND  COMMISSION 

ADMIRAL  FARRAGUT,  GEORGE  PEAHODY,  HAMILTON  FISH,  GENERAL  GRANT, 
GOVERNOR  AIKEN,  S.  C. :  ROHKKT  WINTHROP,  SAMLKI.  WETMORE 


is  that  there  is,  at  the  present  time  (close 
of  1877),  an  excess  of  silver  currency  in 
circulation. 

At  an  early  period  of  Grant's  admin 
istration,  an  important  amendment  to  the 
National  Constitution  was  proposed,  by 
Mr.  Julian  of  Indiana,  for  securing  the 
ballot  to  women,  in  the  following  form: 

"The  right  of  suffrage  in  the  United 
States  shall  be  based  on  citizenship,  and 
shall  be  regulated  by  Congress;  and  all 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  whether 
native  or  naturalized,  shall  enjoy  this  right 
equally,  without  any  distinction  or  dis 
crimination  whatever,  founded  on  sex." 

As  the  first  section  of  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment  declares  that  "all  persons, 
born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States, 
and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof 
[without  an  allusion  to  sex]  are  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  and  of  the  State  wherein 
they  reside,"  this  amendment  clearly  gives 
to  women  the  rights  and  privileges  of  citi 
zens.  No  action  has  since  been  taken  by 
Congress  on  the  subject ;  but  organizations 

for  effecting  that  object  exist,  and.the  matter  will  not  be  allowed  to  slumber  indefinitely,  for  justice  demands 
such  a  fundamental  law.  The  right  to  the  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise  is  guaranteed  to  our  colored 
citizens;  do  women  less  deserve  the  privilege? 

A  most  important  event  occurred  in  our  country,  in  May,  i86g,  which  has  had  a  powerful  effect 
already  upon  commerce,  the  arts  and  civilization,  national  and  international.  It  was  the  completion  of 
an  uninterrupted  railway  communication,  for  freight  and  passengers,  across  our  continent,  between  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans,  thereby  opening  a  way  for  a  vast  trade,  for  our  countrymen,  with  China, 
Japan,  and  the  islands  of  the  sea.  The  ceremony  of  laying  the  last  "tie"  and  driving  the  last  "spikes," 
took  place  on  the  loth  of  May  (1869),  in  a  grassy  valley  near  the  head  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  in  Utah. 
It  was  performed  in  the  presence  of  many  hundred  people  of  various  nationalities,  including  some  of  our 
dusky  barbarian  brethren.  That  "tie"  was  made  of  laurel-wood  brightly  polished,  its  ends  bound  with 
silver  bands.  The  "spikes"  were  three  in  number.  One  was  of  solid  gold,  sent  from  California;  another 
was  of  solid  silver,  sent  from  Nebraska;  and  a  third,  composed  of  gold,  silver  and  iron,  was  furnished 
by  citizens  of  Arizona.  These  were  driven,  after  some  religious  ceremonials;  and  when  the  work  was 
completed,  the  fact  was  communicated  to  the  people  of  our  continent  and  across  the  seas,  with  the  speed 
of  the  lightning's  flash.  That  great  railway  crosses  nine  distinct  mountain  ranges,  in  its  passage  of  about 
three  thousand  four  hundred  miles  between  New  York  and  San  Francisco,  by  way  of  Chicago;  and  the 
greatest  elevation  attained  in  the  route  is  at  Rattle  Snake  Pass,  west  of  the  Laramie  Plains,  where  the 
road  is  seven  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  feet  above  the  sea.  Other  railways — one  more 
northerly  and  one  more  southerly — for  connecting  the  two  oceans  by  a  bond  of  iron  have  been  projected. 

At  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  the  subject  of  a  ship-canal  across  the  Isthmus  of  Darien  to  connect 
the  waters  of  the  two  great  oceans,  was  brought  prominently  before  the  American  people.  Explorations 
under  the  auspices  of  our  Government,  for  such  a  purpose,  had  been  attempted  long  before;  but,  for  a 
time,  nothing  had  been  done.  By  a  treaty  concluded  on  the  i4th  of  January,  i86y,  between  our  Govern 
ment  and  that  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  the  former  was  empowered  to  survey  and  construct  a 
canal  at  any  point  across  the  great  isthmus,  excepting  along  the  route  of  the  Panama  Railroad,  unless 
with  the  consent  of  the  owners  of  that  highway.  Under  the  provisions  of  that  treaty,  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  ordered  surveys  to  be  made,  and  two  exploring  expeditions  were  sent  out  in  1870. 
One,  led  by  Commander  T.  O.  Selfridge  of  the  Navy,  was  sent  to  the  lower  portion  of  the  Isthmus  of 
Darien.  Another,  under  Captain  Shufeldt  of  the  Navy,  was  sent  to  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  further 
south. 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     TI',1  R 


487 


MAJOR-GENERAL  W.  S.  HANCOCK  AND  OTHER  OFFICERS 


O 

•"— :" 

-,"    [i  t£  A.-"  ' 
• 


P 
Col  S.~Burt)i\nk. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  (IKORCE  SVKES  AN'D  OTIIKR  OFFICER^ 


488 


.1    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


REAR  ADMIRAL  HENRY  H.  BELL,  U.S.N. 


The  report  of  Captain  Shufeldt  showed  that  no  extraordinary  engineering  would  be  required  on  the 
Tehuantepec  route;   but  that  an  elevation  of  about  six  hundred  and  eighty  feet  would  have  to  be  reached 

by  means  of  locks.  By  this  route  the  distance  between  New  Orleans  and 
Hong-Kong  would  be  nine  thousand  miles  less  than  by  the  way  of  Cape 
Horn,  and  over  twelve  hundred  miles  less  than  by  the  narrowest  part  of 
the  Isthmus  of  Darien. 

Commander  Selfridge  explored  three  routes  across  the  Darien  isthmus 
at  its  narrower  part,  all  of  which  he  reported  to  be  impracticable.  He 
also  explored  a  route  by  way  of  the  Atrato  River  and  the  Napipi,  one  of 
its  tributaries,  which  he  regarded  as  the  best  and  most  feasible  in  all  that 
region.  It  includes  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  river  navigation,  and 
a  canal  less  than  forty  miles  in  length,  which  would  terminate  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Limon  River  in  Cupica  Bay  on  the  Pacific  coast.  The 
estimated  cost  of  a  canal  by  that  route,  including  three  miles  of  rock- 
cutting  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  in  depth,  is  $124,000,000.  The 
highest  point  of  the  canal  would  be  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  above  the 
sea;  and  it  may  be  fed  by  the  Napipi  River. 

Selfridge  made  his  report  in  1871 ;  and  the  next  year  the  President 
appointed  Major-General  Humphreys,  Professor  Benjamin  Pierce,  Cap 
tain  Daniel  Ammen,  commissioners  to  examine  all  plans  and  proposals  for 
an  inter-oceanic  ship-canal  across  the  isthmus.  The  vast  importance  of 
such  a  work  is  conceded.  The  advantage  to  the  commerce  of  the  world 
is  obvious.  That  commerce  demands  its  speedy  completion.  The  route 
to  the  East  Indies,  even  from  Liverpool,  would  be  much  shortened  by  it. 
So  early  as  1850,  our  Government  had  difficulties  with  the  authorities  of  Cuba,  growing  out  of  attempts 
to  secure  the  independence  of  the  Creoles.  In  1869,  an  insurrection  there  had  assumed  such  formidable 
proportions,  and  received  so  much  moral  support  from  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  that  again  serious 
troubles,  if  not  actual  war  with  Spain,  seemed  inevitable.  The  American  people  naturally  sympathize 
with  others  who  are  struggling  against  despotism  and  for  the  right  to  exercise  local  self-government,  and 
are  not  always  restrained  by  a  wise  prudence.  Native  Cubans  and  sympathetic  Americans  fitted  out 
expeditions,  under  the  general  directions  of  a  "Cuban  Junta"  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  men  and  war- 
material  to  the  insurgent  camps.  Then  our  Government,  deter 
mined  to  observe  the  strictest  neutrality  and  impartiality,  felt 
compelled  to  notice  this  flagrant  violation  of  law,  and  took  meas 
ures  to  suppress  all  filibustering  movements,  and  to  keep  faith 
with  foreign  governments.  At  times,  these  peculiar  relations  be 
tween  our  people  and  those  of  the  neighboring  Spanish  colony 
caused  much  irritation,  and  promised  a  disruption  of  the  peaceful 
relations  between  the  United  States  and  Spain.  Finally,  late  in 
1873,  war  between  the  two  countries  seemed  to  be  inevitable.  The 
steamship  Virginius,  flying  the  flag  of  our  Republic,  suspected  of 
carrying  men  and  supplies  to  the  Cubans,  was  captured  by  a  Span 
ish  cruiser  off  the  coast  of  Cuba,  taken  into  port,  and  many  of 
her  passengers,  and  her  captain  and  some  of  the  crew,  were  pub 
licly  shot  by  the  local  military  authorities.  This  outrage  pro 
duced  intense  excitement  throughout  our  country.  There  was,  for 
awhile,  a  hot  war-spirit  in  the  land;  but  wise  men  in  the  control 
of  the  governments  of  Spain  and  the  United  States,  calmly  con 
sidered  the  international  questions  involved,  and  settled  the  mat 
ter  by  peaceful  diplomacy.  There  were  rights  to  be  acknowl 
edged  by  both  parties.  The  Virginius  was  surrendered  to  the 
United  States  authorities,  and  ample  reparation  for  the  outrage 
was  offered.  While  the  vessel  was  on  its  way  to  New  York,  she 
sprung  a  leak  off  Cape  Fear,  and  went  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  So, 
by  wise  diplomacy,  peace  with  all  the  world,  with  one  notable  and 
brief  exception,  has  been  maintained  since  the  close  of  our  Civil  War.  SENATOR  JAMES  LANE  OF  KANSAS  AND  WIFE 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


489 


SCENES  AT  AOOA  CRKKK  LAN-DIM;,  ARMY  or  THE  POTOMAC,  NOVEMHER,  ISIiL',  TO  JUNE,  181)3 


490 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     ]]' A  R 


GENERAL  JOHN  M.  CORSE 


For  full  twenty  years  the  governments  of  Western  Europe  have  suspected  the  United  States  of 
designs  to  gain  a  controlling  influence  among  the  West  India  Islands,  by  obtaining  possession  of  Cuba,  or 
some  other  territory.  The  suspicion  was  first  aroused  by  the  declarations  of  the  infamous  "Ostend  Mani 
festo."  It  was  allayed  by  the  manifest  determination  of  our  Government  to 
suppress  all  unlawful  military  expeditions  against  that  island,  or  any  other 
territory.  It  was  again  excited  by  movements  on  the  part  of  our  Govern 
ment  to  obtain  possession,  by  annexation,  of  the  island  of  Hayti  or  San 
Domingo.  The  wants  of  commerce,  and  political  considerations,  had 
created  a  strong  desire  of  the  American  people  for  our  Republic  to  have  a 
territorial  possession  among  the  West  India  Islands.  Movements,  with 
that  object  in  view,  were  made  in  1869.  President  Grant  was  decidedly  in 
favor  of  a  scheme  for  the  annexation  of  San  Domingo;  and  late  in  the 
autumn  of  that  year,  a  treat}-  for  the  purpose  was  conducted  between  our 
Government  and  that  of  Hayti.  There  was  opposition  to  the  measure  in 
Congress.  More  exact  information  concerning  the  physical  aspects  of  the 
island  and  the  disposition  of  the  people  was  demanded ;  and  a  Commission, 
consisting  of  judicious  men,  was  sent  to  San  Domingo  for  observation. 
Their  report,  although  it  was  favorable,  did  not  lead  to  a  ratification  of  the 
treaty  by  our  Senate,  and  the  project  has  slumbered  ever  since.  Then  a 
private  treaty  was  made  by  a  stock  company  with  the  authorities  of  San 
Domingo,  by  which  the  government  of  that  commonwealth  ceded  to  the 
association  a  large  portion  of  the  island,  with  valuable  privileges.  All  the 
public  lands  on  the  peninsula  of  Samana  were  so  ceded. 

In  the  year  1870,  the  claims  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  upon  that  of  Great  Britain,  for 
damages  inflicted  upon  the  American  shipping  interest  by  the  depredations  of  the  Alabama,  and  other 
Anglo-Confederate  cruisers,  occupied  a  large  share  of  public  attention.  Two  efforts  to  effect  a  treaty 
had  been  made  and  failed.  Much  diplomatic  correspondence  ensued.  Finally,  late  in  January,  1871, 
Sir  Edward  Thornton,  the  British  minister  at  Washington,  under  instructions  from  his  government, 
proposed,  in  a  letter  to  Secretary  Fish,  a  Joint  High  Commission,  to  be  appointed  by  the  two  governments 
respectively,  to  settle  a  serious  dispute  which  had  arisen  concerning  the  fisheries,  and  so  to  establish  a 
permanent  friendship  between  the  two  nations.  Mr.  Fish,  in  reply,  proposed  that  the  Commission  should 
embrace,  in  its  inquiries,  the  matter  of  the  "Alabama  claims,"  and  other  subjects  of  dispute,  so  that 
nothing  should  remain  to  disturb  the  relations  of  friendship  which  might  be  established.  The  suggestion 
was  approved  by  the  British  minister,  and  each  government  proceeded  to  appoint  its  commissions. 
President  Grant  appointed  Hamilton  Fish,  the  Secretary  of  State;  Samuel  Nelson,  Associate-Justice  of 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court;  Robert  C.  Schenck,  minister  to 
England;  E.  Rockwood  Hoar,  late  Attorney-General  of  the  United 
States;  and  George  H.  Williams,  United  States  Senator  from  Oregon. 
Queen  Victoria  appointed  George  Frederick  Samuel,  Earl  dc  Grey  and 
Earl  of  Ripon;  Sir  Stratford  Henry  Northcote;  Sir  Edward  Thornton, 
the  British  minister;  Sir  Alexander  Macdonald,  a  member  of  the  Privy 
Council  of  Canada,  and  Attorney-General  of  that  Province;  and  Mon 
tague  Bernard,  Professor  of  International  Law  in  the  University  of 
Oxford. 

The  commissioners  of  the  United  States  were  instructed  to  consider 
(i)  the  fisheries;  (2)  the  navigation  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River;  (3) 
reciprocal  trade  between  the  United  States  and  the  Dominion  of  Canada; 
(4)  the  Northwest  water  boundary  and  the  Island  of  San  Juan;  (5)  the 
claims  of  the  United  States  against  Great  Britain  for  compensation  for 
injuries  committed  by  rebel  cruisers;  and  (6)  claims  of  British  subjects 
against  the  United  States  for  losses  and  injuries  arising  out  of  acts  com 
mitted  during  the  recent  Civil  War. 

On  the  27th  of  February  (1871),  the  Commission  had  their  first 
meeting,  in  Washington  city.  Lord  Tenterden,  Secretary  of  the  British 
Commission,  and  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis,  Assistant-Secretary  of  State  of 
the  United  States,  were  chosen  clerks  of  the  Joint  High  Commission. 
They  held  many  meetings  and  the  subjects  were  fully  discussed,  when  a  ''''^'I'TH'X^V  YORK  v,,,  ! 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


491 


GENERAL  CHARLES  DEVEXS  AND  STAFF 


GENERAL  ().  B.  Wn.cox  AND  STAFF 


492 


A    HIS  T  O  R  Y    OF    THE    CIVIL    W  A  R 


REAR  ADMIRAL  Tuos.  O.  SELFRIDGE. 


REAR  ADMIRAL  J.  SMITH,  U.  S.  N. 


treaty  was  agreed  to,  which  provided  for 
the  settlement,  by  arbitration,  by  a 
mixed  commission,  of  all  claims  on  both 
sides  for  injuries  by  either  governments 
to  the  citizens  of  the  other,  during  the 
Civil  War,  and  for  the  permanent  settle 
ment  of  all  questions  in  dispute  between 
the  two  nations.  This  treaty  was  signed 
on  the  8th  of  May,  1871,  and  was  speed 
ily  ratified  by  the  two  governments. 

The  conclusion  of  the  treaty  was 
followed  by  the  appointment  of  arbi 
trators.  The  United  States  appointed 
Charles  Francis  Adams;  and  Great  Brit 
ain,  Sir  Alexander  Cockburn.  The  two 
governments  jointly  invited  the  Em 
peror  of  Brazil,  the  King  of  Italy,  and 
the  President  of  the  Swiss  Confedera 
tion,  each  to  appoint  an  arbitrator.  The 

Emperor  appointed  Baron  d'ltazuba;  the  King  chose  Count  Frederick 
Sclopis;  and  the  President  of  the  Swiss  Confederation  appointed  James 
Stannpfli.  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis  was  appointed  agent  of  the  United 
States;  and  Lord  Tenterden,  of  Great  Britain.  These  gentlemen  formed 
what  was  termed  the  "Tribunal  of  Arbitration." 

On  the  isth  of  December,  1871,  the  "Tribunal"  assembled  at  Geneva,  in  Switzerland,  where  Count 
Sclopis  was  chosen  to  preside.  After  two  meetings,  it  was  adjourned  to  the  middle  of  June,  1872.  A 
final  meeting  was  held  in  September,  the  same  year;  and  on  the  i4th  of  that  month,  its  decision  on  the 
Alabama  claims  was  announced.  That  decision  decreed  that  the  government  of  Great  Britain  should 
pay  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  the  sum  of  $15,500,000  in  gold,  to  be  given  to  citizens  of  the 
latter  for  losses  incurred  by  the  depredations  of  the  Alabama  and  other  Anglo-Confederate  cruisers. 
That  amount  was  paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  a  year  afterward,  through  the  agency  of 
the  banking  firms  of  Drexel,  Morgan  &  Co.  and  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.,  who  made  a  contract  with  the  British 
government  to  pay  this  award  on  or  before  the  loth  of  September,  1873.  This  transaction  was  performed 
in  the  following  manner,  without  moving  a  dollar  of  coin : 

The  contra  c  t  in  g 
bankers,  from  time  to 
time,  bought  bills  of  ex 
change,  which  they  depos 
ited  in  comparatively 
small  amounts,  and  re 
ceived  coin  or  gold  certifi 
cates  for  such  deposits, 
and  purchased  United 
States  bonds.  Those 
bonds  and  coin  certificates 
they  finally  exchanged 
with  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  for  a  single  cer 
tificate  for  $15,500,000, 
which  reads  as  follows: 
"It  is  hereby  certified 
that  fifteen  million  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars 
have  been  deposited  with 
the  Treasurer  of  the 
United  States,  payable  in 
gold,  at  his  office,  to  VIEWS  OK  CHATTANOOGA,  TENNESSEE 


,1     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


493 


VlKWS    OK    HUKNSIDK     BKIIX.li 


494 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     UM  R 


COMMODORE  C.  S.  BOUGS,  U.  S.  N. 


Drexel,  Morgan  &  Co.,  Morton,  Bliss  <Kr 
Co.,  and  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.,  or  their 
order."  This  was  endorsed  by  these 
parties  to  pay  the  amount  to  the  British 
minister  at  Washington,  and  the  British 
Consul-General  at  New  York.  The  min 
ister  and  consul  endorsed  it  with  an 
order  to  pay  the  amount  to  Hamilton 
Fish,  Secretary  of  State ;  and  he,  in  turn, 
endorsed  it  with  an  order  to  pay  it  to  W. 
A.  Richardson,  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury.  The  money  was  invested  in  the 
new  five  per  cent,  bonds  of  the  United 
States  of  the  funded  loan,  redeemable 
after  the  first  day  of  May,  1881;  and  a 
commission  was  appointed  to  distribute 
the  award  among  the  just  claimants  for 
damages. 

The  question  of  boundary  on   the 


CAPTAIN  ALEX  GIMM 


Pacific  coast  between  our  country  and  the  British  possessions  was  referred  to  the  Emperor  of  Germany, 
who  decided  in  favor  of  the  claims  of  the  United  States,  which  gave  to  our  territory  the  island  of  San  Juan, 
the  domain  in  dispute.  So  was  settled  by  the  peaceful  and  just  method  of  arbitration,  most  exciting 
questions,  which,  at  one  time,  threatened  to  be  referred  to  the  arbitrament  of  the  sword. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph,  and  the  first  establishment  of  communi 
cation  between  America  and  Europe  by  it.  That  invention,  conceived  more  than  a  century  ago,  was 
first  brought  to  perfection  and  made  a  medium  for  the  transmission  of  language  instantly  over  great 
spaces,  by  Samuel  Finley  Breese  Morse  of  New  York,  and  was  first  presented  to  public  notice  in  the  year 
1838.  He  filed  a  caveat  at  the  Patent  Office  in  the  autumn  of  1837,  and  gave  a  private  exhibition  of  its 
marvellous  power,  in  the  New  York  University,  in  January,  1838,  when  intelligence  was  instantly  trans 
mitted  through  a  circuit  of  ten  miles  of  wire,  and  plainly  recorded  on  a  cylinder. 

Professor  Morse  applied  to  Congress  for  pecuniary  aid  to  enable  him  to  construct  an  experiment;.! 
line  of  telegraph  between  Washington  and  Baltimore.  He  was  unsuccessful,  and  for  four  years  he  waited 
for  the  tardy  action  of  his  government.  Then,  in  the  spring  of  1842,  Congress  appropriated  830,000  for 
his  use;  and  two  years  afterward  Professor  Morse  transmitted  from  Washington  to  Baltimore,  a  distance 
of  forty  miles,  the  first  message,  furnished  him  by  a  young  lady  "What  hath  God  wrought!"  The 
first  public  message  was  the  announcement  of  the  nomination  of  James  K.  Polk  for  President  of  the 
United  States,  by  a  Democratic  convention  sitting  at  Baltimore,  in  May,  1844. 

Others  claimed  to  be  the  authors  of  the  great  invention,  and  Professor  Morse  was  put  upon  the 
defensive.  Infringements  of  the  patents  he  had  obtained  ensued,  and  years  of  costly  litigation.  He 
triumphed.  His  rights  were  fully  and  finally  established  by  the  careful  sifting  of  testimony  by  the  courts, 
and  a  decision  was  made  from  which  there  could  be  no  just  appeal,  that  Professor  Morse  was  the  original 
and  sole  inventor  of  the  electro-magnetic  recording  telegraph  system,  known  by  his  name.  Its  value 
was  soon  perceived.  Monarchs  bestowed  orders  and 
pecuniary  gifts  upon  the  inventor,  and  colleges  con 
ferred  honorary  degrees  upon  him. 

Professor  Morse  originated  marine  telegraphy.  He 
suggested  the  possibility  of  telegraphic  communication 
between  America  and  Europe,  by  means  of  a  submarine 
cable,  in  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  the 
summer  of  1843;  and  in  1858  he  participated"  in  the 
labors  and  honors  of  achieving  it.  In  the  summer  of 
that  year  a  cable  was  laid  between  Valencia  in  Ireland 
and  the  shore  of  Trinity  Bay,  Newfoundland,  over  the 
great  ocean  plateau  discovered  by  Professor  Maury  of 
the  National  Observatory.  The  first  intelligent  com 
munication  was  made  on  the  i,3th  of  August.  Early  in 
the  morning  of  the  ryth,  a  message  was  received  from 


rUsre-l    f^cr^Ql^.^ 


FACSIMILE  OK   PASS   Issi  ED   BY    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.     MR. 
BRADY  CARRIED  THE  ORIGINAL   IN   His   I'OCKKTHOOK 
FOR  MANY  YEARS 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     \V  A  R 


495 


HAITI. ic  OF  FREDEIUCKSIIURG 


CAI-TAIN  WILEY'S  CAMP,  QUARTERMASTER  AT  STONINGTOV  STATION 


496 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


mm  •     • 


BATTERY  No.  4  IN  FRONT  OF  YORKTOWN 

the  Queen  of  Great  Britain,  for  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  an  answer  was  immediately  returned, 
when  the  cable  ceased  its  functions.  It  was  dumb  until  the  summer  of  1866,  when  communication  was 
re-established,  and  has  been  permanent  ever  since.  There  now  seems  to  be  no  impediment  to  its  utterances 
by  a  pathway  under  the  sea,  and  over  the  land,  between  nearly  all  the  countries  of  the  civilized  world. 

Many  new  functions  of  this  great  invention  have  been 
discovered,  and  its  powers  seem  to  be  in  their  infancy  of 
manifestation.  Messages  are  now  sent  by  a  single  wire, 
each  way,  at  the  same  instant  of  time.  The  human  voice 
'and  the  melody  of  musical  instruments  may  now  be  trans 
mitted  over  hundreds  of  miles  of  space,  and  even  impres 
sions  of  handwriting  and  the  living  features  of  the  human 
face  may  now  be  sent  by  friend  to  friend,  from  State  to 
State,  from  ocean  to  ocean.  Commerce  and  agriculture 
are  receiving  vast  benefits  from  its  use  in  meteorological 
observations  and  scientific  predictions  of  future  events. 

In  the  year  1870,  Congress  authorized  the  establish 
ment  of  a  Weather-Signal  Service,  under  the  control  of  the 
War  Department,  which  was  designed  to  collect  informa 
tion  and  give  notice  by  signals  or  by  telegraph,  of  any 
approaching  danger;  in  time  of  peace,  of  dangers  to  arise 
from  storms  in  their  progress,  or  other  atmospheric  dis 
turbances.  This  peculiar  service  was  invented  and  organ 
ize^  by  General  Albert  J.  Myer,  who  has  been  at  the  head 
of  it  from  the  beginning.  The  system,  as  arranged  by 
General  Myer,  permits  the  forecasting  of  atmospheric 
phenomena  for  twenty-four  hours  in  advance;  and  to  such 

perfection  is  the  system  brought,  that  almost  ninetv  per 

1-  •,-    j    ,  ,  GENERALS  DAVID  S.  McCALLUM  AND 

cent,   of  the  predictions  are  verified   by  actual   results.  STEPHEN  A.  HURLBURT 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


497 


MONITORS  AND  GUNBOATS  ON  THE   TAMES  RIVER 


498 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


RUINS  OF  NORFOLK  XAVV  YARD 


Simultaneous  weather  reports  from  simul 
taneous  observations,  taken  at  different 
places,  are  transmitted  to  the  Signal  Office 
at  Washington.  Three  of  these  simulta 
neous  reports  are  made  in  each  twenty-four 
hours,  at  the  same  instant  of  time,  at  inter 
vals  of  eight  hours;  and  warnings  are  given 
by  signals,  maps,  bulletins,  and  official 
despatches,  furnished  by  the  Signal  Office 
three  times  each  day,  to  nearly  all  the 
newspapers  of  the  land.  So  thoroughly  is 
this  work  done,  by  means  of  the  telegraph, 
and  by  the  perfect  organization  of  the  sys 
tem  and  the  discipline  of  the  operators, 
that  it  is  estimated  one-third  of  all  the 
families  in  our  country  are  in  possession, 
each  da}',  of  the  information  at  the  Signal 
Office  in  Washington.  The  value  of  this 
service  to  commerce  and  agriculture  is  in 
calculable.  A  storm  raging  in  any  part  of 
the  country  ma}'  be  known  to  ports  and  dis 
tricts  in  its  track  many  hours  before  it  can 
reach  such  points;  and  deductions  from  known  meteorological  laws  enable  the  Signal  Bureau  to  predict 
the  probable  state  of  the  weather  in  every  part  of  the  country  with  great  accuracy.  The  advantages  of 
such  a  service  are  obvious.  The  invention  and  operations  of  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph  furnish  a 
marvellous  chapter  in  the  history  of  our  country. 

In  the  year  1870  the  ninth  enumeration  or  census  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  and  their 
productions  was  begun;  but  it  was  not  completed  until  late  in  the  next  year.  The  revelations  of  that 
census  concerning  the  growth  of  our  country  in  population,  development  of  its  resources  and  its  various 
industries,  were  wonderful.  It  showed  the  remarkable  fact  that  the  inhabitants  of  this  comparatively 
young  country,  with  its  immense  out-of-doors,  were  not  a  pre-eminently  agricultural  people.  When  the 
first  enumeration  was  taken  in  the  year  1790,  and  the  population  was  about  four  million,  the  value  of  the 
annual  products  of  our  agriculture  was  reported  at  $150,000,000.  That  of  our  manufactures  was  then 
quite  small.  The  assessed  wealth  of  the  people  then  was  estimated  at  $497,293,000.  Sixty  years  after 
that  enumeration  (1850),  the  value  of  the  annual  products  of  agriculture  was  given  at  $1,070,000,000, 
and  of  manufactures  at  $1,019,000,000,  and  the  assessed  wealth  at  $2,276,000,000.  Our  population  then 
was  little  more  than  twenty-three  millions. 
Twenty  years  later,  or  at  the  decennial 
enumeration,  1870,  when  our  population 
was  almost  forty  million,  the  value  of  the 
annual  agricultural  products,  including  that 
of  the  farms,  orchards,  forests,  buildings 
and  live-stock,  was  estimated  at  almost 
$3,000,000,000.  At  the  same  time  the 
value  of  the  annual  product  of  our  manu 
factures  was  estimated  at  $4,232,325,000, 
or  $1,232,325.000  more  than  the  total  value 
of  the  agricultural  products  of  our  country. 
This  showed  an  increase  in  the  value  of  the 
products  of  our  manufactures,  in  the  pre 
vious  twenty  years,  of  over  three  hundred 
per  cent. 

After  this  enumeration  of  the  inhabi 
tants,  and  the  final  restoration  of  the 
Union,  in  May,  1872,  a  new  apportionment 
in  representation  was  established,  making 
the  ratio  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  A  SHORI,  BATTERY 


.4    HISTORY    OF    TILE    CIVIL    WAR 


499 


GENERAL   MARTIN  T.  McAlAnox  AND  STAKK 


TAH'S  HOUSE,  YORKTOWN 


500 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


thousand,  instead  of  ninety  thousand.  A  new  Pension  bill  was  also  adopted,  giving  eight  dollars  a  month 
to  all  surviving  officers,  enlisted  men,  and  volunteers  in  the  wars  of  the  Revolution  and  of  1812,  or  their 
surviving  widows. 

CHAPTER   XXX. 

Propositions  of  National  Interest  Rejected — Public  Park — National  Conventions — Distin 
guished  Visitors — Inauguration  of  Grant — His  Cabinet — Acts  of  Congress — Salaries 
— Aspect  of  Public  Affairs — The  "Panic' — Indians  and  Indian  Wars — The  Modocs 
— Cheap  Transportation — "Patrons  of  Husbandry" — Disturbances  in  the  South — 
"White  League" — The  Sioux  and  Their  Reservation  Expedition  against  the  Sioux — 
Destruction  of  Custer  and  His  Command  — Custer's  Remains  Taken  to  West  Point 
— Escape  of  Sitting  Bull — Admission  of  Colorado — Indian  Territory  and  Alaska — Inhab 
itants  of  Indian  Territory. 

THE  year  of  grace  1872  was  a  "Presidential  year" — a  year  when 
the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Republic  is  chosen — and  that  subject 
naturally  occupied  much  of  the  public  attention  during  the  sum 
mer  and  fall;  yet  there  were,  besides,  projects  of  a  national  character,  of 
great  interest,  presented  for  consideration.  One  of  these  was  a  proposi 
tion  to  place  the  telegraph  system  of  our  country  under  the  control  of  the 
National  Government,  and  make  it  a  part  of  the  postal  system  of  the 
United  States.  Another  project  was  the  enlargement  of  the  land-locked 
GENERAL  STEWART  WOODFORD  navigation,  by  means  of  canals,  from  the  extreme  eastern  portion  of  the 
Union  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  various  ports  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  The 
governor  of  Virginia  proposed  that  the  State  debts  should  be  assumed  by  the  National  Government — an 
act  that  was  wise  and  just  when  our  Government  first  went  into  operation,  for  the  State  debts  had  been 
incurred  chiefly  by  expenditures  during  the  war  for  independence,  for  the  general  good.  The  present 
State  debts  have  all  been  incurred  for  the  benefit  of  each  State  separately.  These  various  propositions 
failed  to  secure  the  popular  favor. 

By  an  act  of  Congress  a  large  tract  of  the  public  domain,  about  forty  miles  square,  lying  near  the 
head-waters  of  the  Yellowstone  River,  on  the  northeastern  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  was  set  apart 
for  a  public  park.  It  is  withdrawn  from  sale,  settlement  and  occupancy,  and  is  dedicated  to  the  "pleasure 
and  enjoyment  of  the  people  of  the  United  States." 

Early  in  the  year  1872,  several  political  national  conventions  were  held  for  the  purpose  of  nominating 
candidates  for  the  Presidency.  The  first  was  that  of  the  "Labor-Reform  Party,"  held  at  Columbus, 
Ohio,  in  February,  when  David  Davis  of  Illinois,  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  was  nominated.  Mr.  Davis  declined,  and  finally  Charles  O'Conor  of  the  City  of  New  York  was 
nominated  by  that  party.  In  April,  a  "Colored  National  Con 
vention  ' '  was  held  in  New  Orleans ;  but  they  refrained  from  nom 
inating  a  President.  A  movement,  begun  in  Missouri  in  1870,  for 
a  union  of  Democrats  and  so-called  "Liberal  Republicans,"  cul 
minated,  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1872,  in  the  fusion  of  these 
two  political  elements.  A  convention  of  "Liberal  Republicans" 
assembled  at  Cincinnati  on  the  first  day  of  May  (1872),  and  nom 
inated  the  late  Horace  Greeley  for  President,  and  B.  Gratz  Brown 
of  Missouri  for  Vice-President.  The  regular  Republican  Conven 
tion  assembled  at  Philadelphia  on  the  5th  of  June,  and  nominated 
President  Grant  for  re-election  and  Senator  Henry  Wilson  of 
Massachusetts  for  Vice-President.  On  the  gth  of  July  the  Demo 
cratic  Convention  assembled  at  Baltimore,  and  adopted  the  nom 
inees  of  the  "Liberals"  (Messrs.  Greeley  and  Brown)  by  an  almost 
unanimous  vote.  The  Opposition  party  expected  much  strength 
from  the  coalition ;  but  Grant  and  Wilson  were  elected,  the  major 
ity  of  the  former  being  much  greater  than  he  received  in  1868. 

Distinguished  visitors  came  to  the  United  States  in  1872. 
An  imposing  embassy  of  twenty-one  persons  came  from  Japan  to 
make  inquiries  about  the  renewal  of  former  treaties  between  the 
two  governments;  but,  not  having  sufficient  delegated  power  to  GENERAL  DICK  BUSTED  AND  DRUMMER  BOY 


A     HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


501 


BATTKRV  No.    1    IN  FROM   OK  YORKTOWN 


502 


.4    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


make  such  renewals,  the  matter  was  not  then  settled.  Relations  between  the  United  States  and  Japan 
are  cordial  in  the  extreme ;  and  the  commerce,  politics,  and  society  of  the  two  nations  are  rapidly  becoming 
more  intimate  with  each  other.  The  same  year  the  Grand  Duke  Alexis,  son  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia, 
made  a  tour  through  our  country,  and  was  graciously  received  every 
where. 

President  Grant's  second  term  of  office  began  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1873.  It  was  an  intensely  cold  day  at  the  National  Capital;  but  the 
inaugural  ceremonies  were  performed,  as  usual,  in  the  open  air,  at  the  east 
front  of  the  Capitol.  Chief-Justice  Chase  administered  the  oath  of  office ; 
and  it  was  one  of  the  latest  public  acts  of  that  distinguished  jurist.  His 
health  had  been  failing  for  some  time,  in  consequence  of  a  paralytic  stroke 
in  1872,  and  he  died  two  months  after  these  imposing  ceremonies.  The 
Senate  immediately  confirmed  President  Grant's  nomination  of  con 
stitutional  advisers,  which  were  as  follows:  Hamilton  Fish,  Secretary  of 
State;  William  A.  Richardson,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  William  W. 
Belknap,  Secretary  of  War;  George  A.  Robeson,  Secretary  of  the  Navy; 
Columbus  Delano,  Secretary  of  the  Interior;  John  A.  J.  Creswell,  Post 
master-General;  and  George  H.  Williams,  Attorney-General.  Changes 
in  the  personnel  of  the  cabinet  afterward  took  place,  and  only  Mr.  Fish 
retained  his  position  during  the  eight  years  of  President  Grant's  admin 
istration. 

The  third  session  of  the  Forty-second  Congress  closed  on  the  4th  of  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  SECRETARY  OF  WAR 
March,  1873,  at  noon.  Among  the  numerous  acts  passed  during  that 

session  was  one  to  abolish  the  grades  of  Admiral  and  Vice-Admiral  in  the  United  States  navy.  Another 
abolished  the  Franking  privilege;  and  another  fixed  the  pay  of  certain  officers  of  the  Government  and 
members  of  Congress.  The  salary  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  was  raised  from  $25,000  a  year 
to  $50,000,  payable  in  monthly  installments.  The  salary  of  the  Vice-President  was  fixed  at  $.10,000;  of 
the  Chief -Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  $10,500;  and  the  Associate-Justices,  $10,000  each.  That  of  the 
heads  of  the  several  departments,  and  of  the  Attorney-General,  was  fixed  at  $10,000;  of  the  Speaker  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  $10,000;  and  of  Senators  and  Representatives,  $7,500  each,  a  year,  and 
no  allowance  made  for  traveling  expenses,  the  mileage  system  having  been  abolished. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  second  term  of  President  Grant's  administration,  the  future  of  our  country, 
in  all  its  aspects,  appeared  brighter  than  ever  before,  since  the  end  of  the  Civil  War.  There  seemed  to 
be  a  steady  improvement  in  the  tone  of  public  feeling  after  the  irritations  caused  by  the  Civil  War  and 
the  measures  adopted  for  the  restoration  of  the  Union.  The  Government,  in  its  dealings  with  the  leaders 
in  the  insurrection,  had  been  exceedingly  lenient.  Of  the  thousands  of  our  citizens  who  consciously  and 
willingly  committed  "treason  against  the  United  States,"  as  defined  by  Article  III,  Section  3,  Clause  i, 
of  the  National  Constitution,  not  one  had  been  punished  for  that  crime;  and  only  Jefferson  Davis,  the 

acting  head  of  the  Confederacy,  had  been  indicted,  and  he  was  released 
from  jail  (illegally)  by  President  Johnson's  proclamation  of  Amnesty  on 
Christmas  day,  1868,  already  mentioned,  and  has  never  been  called  to 
account. 

There  was,  also,  a  gradual  lightening  of  the  burdens  of  taxation 
which  the  war  had  imposed.  The  amount  was  reduced  by  many  millions 
annually,  while  the  revenue  had  increased  from  $371,000,000  in  1869  to 
$430,000,000  in  1873.  The  exports  showed  an  increase,  as  compared 
with  1859,  of  more  than  twenty-five  per  cent.,  while  there  had  not  been 
an  equal  increase  in  the  value  of  imports. 

Emigration  from  Europe  poured,  in  an  immense  volume,  upon  our 
shores  that  year  (1873),  reaching  the  unprecedented  number  of  souls  that 
came,  of  473,000.  Never  before  nor  since  have  so  many  aliens  come  to 
the  United  States,  adding  vastly  to  our  material  wealth.  Efforts  have 
been  made  to  ascertain  the  capital  value  of  the  average  emigrant  who 
comes  here,  as  a  producer.  Dr.  Edward  Young,  the  chief  of  our  National 
Bureau  of  Statistics,  Commerce  and  Navigation,  has  computed  it  at 
$800,  not  counting  the  money  the  emigrant  brings  with  him,  which,  he 
JOHN  LOTHROP  MOTLEY  calculates,  is  spent  by  him  in  preparing  to  become  a  producer.  If,  then, 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    HM  R 


503 


INFANTRY  ON  PARADE 


SCENE  ON  THE  SEVERN  RIVER,  NEAR  ANNAPOLIS,  MARYLAND 


504 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    TIM  R 


COLONEL  DIXON  A.  MILES 


we  take  the  number  of  aliens  who  have  come  to  our^shores  since  the  taking  of  the  census  in  1870,  until 
the  year  1877,  amounting  in  round  numbers  to  say  2,000,000,  we  have  an  aggregate  sum  of  $1,600,000,000 
added  to  our  wealth  within  these  seven  years,  by  emigration  alone.  It  is  estimated  by  Dr.  Young,  that 
previous  to  1870,  there  have  been  added  to  our  wealth  from  the 
same  source,  $6,243,880,800;  making  a  total  increment  from 
emigration  alone  of  $7,843,880,800.  It  is  estimated  that  sixty 
per  cent,  of  all  the  emigrants  who  arrive  are  in  the  prime  of  life, 
and  ready  to  enter  at  once  into  their  several  industrial  pursuits. 
Dr.  Young,  writing  in  1875,  says:  "As  regards  nationality, 
more  than  one-half  of  those  who  have  thus  far  arrived  in  the 
United  States  are  British,  and  come  from  the  United  Kingdom, 
or  from  the  British  possessions  of  North  America.  These  speak 
our  language,  and  a  large  part  are  acquainted  with  our  laws  and 
institutions,  and  are  soon  associated  with  and  absorbed  into  our 
body  politic. 

"The  German  element  comes  next,  and  embraces  nearly 
two-thirds  of  the  remainder,  being  at  once  an  industrious  and  an 
intelligent  people,  a  large  proportion  settling  in  rural  districts, 
and  developing  the  agricultural  resources  of  the  West  and  South ; 
while  the  remainder,  consisting  largely  of  artisans  and  skilled 
workmen,  find  profitable  employment  in  the  cities  and  manufac 
turing  towns. 

"The  influx  of  Scandinavians,  who  have  already  made  ex 
tensive  settlements  in  the  northwestern  States,  constitutes  a 
distinctive  feature  of  the  movement ;  and  though  but  a  few  years 
since  it  received  its  first  impetus,  it  is  already  large  and  rapidly 
increasing.  Industrious,  economical  and  temperate,  their  advent 
should  be  especially  welcomed. 

"Asiatic  emigration  [Chinese],  whatever  views  may  be  entertained  of  its  influence  upon  our  industries 
and  customs,  has  not  yet  reached  such  proportions  as  to  excite  alarm  in  the  most  apprehensive,  and  falls 
short  of  what  has  been  represented,  never  having  reached,  in  a  single  year,  the  number  of  15,000;  forming 
only  about  four  per  cent,  of  our  total  immigration.  So  small  a  number  can  easily  be  absorbed  into  a 
population  (1870)  of  40,000,000,  and  no  injury  result,  if  the  movement  be  confined  to  voluntary  immi 
gration.  A  peculiarity  of  the  Chinese  immigration  is  the  small  number  of  females,  not  exceeding  seven 
per  cent,  of  the  whole,  a  fact  which  seems  to  preclude  a  large  increase  of  the  pure  race. 

"The  Latin  nations  contribute  very  little  to  our  population,  and  the  Sclavic  still  less;  while  to-day, 
as  from  time  immemorial,  the  different  branches  of  the  great  Teutonic  trunk  are  swarming  forth  from  the 
most  populous  regions,  to  aid  in  the  progress  of  civilization. 

"While  a  brief  review  of  the  ethnic  derivation  of  the  millions  who 
have  transferred  their  allegiance  from  the  Old  World  to  the  New,  ex 
hibits  a  favorable  result,  other  elements  of  their  value  to  this  country 
require  consideration.  The  wide  contrast  between  skilled  and  unskilled 
labor,  between  industry  and  laziness,  between  economical  habits  and 
unthrift,  indicates  a  marked  variation  in  the  capital  value  of  the  immi 
grant  to  this  country.  The  unskilled  laborers,  who  at  once  engage  in 
subduing  the  forests,  or  cultivating  the  prairies,  are  of  far  more  value  to 
the  country  than  those  who  remain  in  the  large  cities." 

The  "panic,"  the  great  tide  of  business  revulsion  that  swept  over 
the  country  in  the  autumn  of  1873,  prostrating  thousands  of  commercial 
and  manufacturing  establishments,  and  so  paralyzing  various  industries 
that  the  wages  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  laborers  were  cut  off  or  greatly 
reduced,  caused  a  sudden  check  to  emigration.  The  great  depression  in 
the  business  of  the  country,  which  immediately  ensued,  caused  a  reflux 
tide  of  emigration.  In  1874,  the  number  of  immigrants  who  returned  to 
Europe,  was  72,346,  and  in  1875  the  number  was  92,754.  That  busi- 

REAR  ADMIRAL  CADWALADER  R.NGOLD.     nesl! 'depression   continued   to   187  7,   but  a  gradual  improvement  was 

visible,   with   sure   signs  of  returning  prosperity.     The  reflux   tide  of 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


505 


GRAND  REVIEW  OF  THE  RETURNING  TROOPS,  IN  WASHINGTON,  I).  C.,  MAY,  IStio 


506 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


TREES  SHOWING  BULLET  MARK;- 


emigration  has  almost  ceased  to  flow,  and  the  inflowing  of  a  foreign  population  goes  steadily  on. 
Over  the  firmament  of  the  future  of  our  country,  at  the  time  of  President  Grant's  second  inauguration, 
dark  clouds  soon  appeared  floating,  and  they  have  hung  there  almost  ever  since,  more  or  less  foreboding 
of  evil  in  their  aspect.  In  some  of  the  late  slave-labor  States 
there  have  been  fitful  evidences  of  existing  discontent  and  rebel 
lious  feeling,  the  manifestations  of  which  have  given  the  National 
Government  much  anxiety  and  trouble.  "Indian  hostilities" 
have  continued  as  a  sort  of  chronic  disturber  of  the  tranquillity  of 
the  nation,  and  especially  of  the  settlements  in  mid-continent  on 
the  frontier  borders  of  civilization. 

Owing  to  the  unwise  feature  of  the  "Peace-policy"  inau 
gurated  by  President  Grant,  of  a  continuance  of  the  vicious  sys 
tem  of  treating  our  barbarian  population  as  foreigners,  keeping 
them  on  reservations,  and  so  making  necessary  the  employment 
of  agents  and  contractors,  who  are  too  frequently  unscrupulous 
speculators,  continually  worrying  the  Indians  and  exciting  their 
righteous  anger,  that  policy,  as  we  have  observed,  has  not  worked 
so  well  as  its  friends  had  hoped  it  would.     There  are  nearly  one 
hundred  reservations  upon  which  about  one  hundred  and  eighty 
thousand  Indians  are  seated.     The  aggregate  area  of  these  reser 
vations  is  about  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  thousand  square- 
miles.     Thirty-one  of  these  are  east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  upon  the  Pacific  Slope  are  nineteen. 
The  remainder  are  between  these.     There  are  about  forty  thousand  Indians  who  have  no  lands  awarded 
them  by  treaty,  but  they  have  reservations  set  apart  for  them  upon  the  public  lands  of  the  United  States, 
fifteen  in  number,  and  aggregating  about  sixty  thousand  square  miles. 

We  have  remarked  that  Indian  wars  have  continued  to  disturb  the  repose  of  the  Government  and  the 
frontier  settlements.  It  is  estimated  that  the  potentially  hostile  tribes,  at  this  time,  number  about 
sixty-four  thousand;  but  they  are  widely  scattered  over  a  vast  territory.  War  with  such  an  enemy  is 
exceedingly  costly  in  men  and  money.  War  with  the  Cheyennes  in  1864  caused  about  eight  thousand 
troops  to  be  taken  from  the  armies  engaged  in  suppressing  the  great  insurrection,  to  fight  the  Indians. 
The  result  of  the  year's  campaign  was  the  killing  of  fifteen  or  twenty  of  the  barbarians,  at  a  cost  of  about 
one  million  dollars  a-piece,  while  hundreds  of  soldiers  lost  their  lives,  and  many  border  settlers  were 
butchered!  This  and  subsequent  wars  with  the  Indians  have  cost  our  Government  over  $100,000,000. 
How  much  cheaper  and  Christian-like  it  would  have  been  to  treat  them  with  justice  and  kindness,  as  men 
and  women  possessed  of  souls  and  the  qualities  of  common  humanity,  than  as  ravenous  wild  beasts, 
deserving  only  to  feel  the  power  of  ball  and  sabre. 

In  the  spring  of  1873,  difficulties  occurred  with  the  Modoc  Indians  who,  for  twenty  years,  had  shown 
a  hostile  feeling  toward  the  white  people.  A  treaty  had  been  made  with  them  in  1864,  which  provided 
for  the  setting  apart  for  them  of  seven  hundred  and  sixty-eight  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Southern  Oregon. 
Some  of  the  tribe  settled  there;  others,  led  by  a  chief  known  as  "Captain  Jack,"  a  conspicuous  warrior, 
preferred  to  remain  where  they  were;  but  sullenly  consented  to  go.  Troubles  with  other  Indians  there 

caused  the  Modocs  to  leave  the  reservation  and  begin  anew  their 
depredations.  It  was  finally  determined  to  compel  them  to  go  to 
their  reservation,  when  the  Indians,  under  the  immediate  leader 
ship  of  Captain  Jack,  broke  out  into  open  war  late  in  1872,  and 
on  the  same  day  eleven  citizens  were  murdered. 

In  January,  1873,  a  severe  engagement  occurred  between  the 
National  troops  and  the  Modocs,  who  were  strongly  intrenched 
among  rocks  and  vast  lava-beds.  All  attempts  to  dislodge 
them  were  made  in  vain,  and  a  peace  commission  was  appointed 
to  confer  with  them.  That  commission  reported,  on  the  3d  of 
March,  that  the  Modocs  had  agreed  to  surrender  their  arms  and 
go  to  the  reservation.  On  the  following  day  they  were  compelled 
to  report  that  the  barbarians  had  changed  their  minds,  and  had 
rejected  all  propositions  for  a  removal,  and  refused  to  go  to  the 
reservation.  Then  another  peace  commission  was  appointed, 
CAI-TI-RKD  ARTH.I.ICRY  composed  of  General  Canby,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas,  and  others. 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL     WAR 


507 


VIEWING  THE  RETURN  OF  TROOPS  FROM  THE  CAPITOL  AT  WASHINGTON 


PARI/S  AND  STAFF 
<F9T-?  CORPS. 


GRAND  RKVIEW  OF  THK  ARMY  IN  WASHINGTON;,   IStio 


508  A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


They  found  the  Modocs  under  the  influence  of  Captain  Jack  very  insolent  in  their  bearing,  and  showing 
unmistakable  signs  of  hostile  feeling.  Finally,  on  the  nth  of  April,  1873,  while  they  were  engaged  in  a 
council  with  the  Indians,  General  Canby  and  Dr.  Thomas  were  murdered  by  them,  the  savage  warriors 
stealing  upon  them  in  a  most  cowardly  manner. 

This  treachery  caused  the  Government  to  make  the  most  vigorous  war  upon  the  Modocs;  and  before 
the  first  of  June  they  were  driven  from  the  lava-beds  and  were  completely  subdued.  Captain  Jack  was 
deserted  by  most  of  his  followers,  and  was  finally  captured,  with  several  of  the  participants  in  the  murder. 
They  were  tried  by  a  court-martial,  in  August,  and  six  of  them  were  condemned  to  death.  Captain  Jack 
and  three  of  his  companions  were  hanged  on  the  jd  of  October  following,  at  Fort  Klamath,  in  Oregon. 

In  1873,  public  attention,  especially  in  the  teeming  West,  was  much  occupied  with  the  subject  of 
cheap  transportation  along  the  courses  of  commerce  from  west  to  east.  The  matter  was  brought  before 
the  National  Legislature,  when  it  was  decided  by  competent  authority  that  Congress  had,  under 
an  express  provision  of  the  Constitution,  power  to  regulate  commerce  carried  on  by  railroads.  A  bill  was 
introduced,  and  passed  the  House  of  Representatives  in  March,  1874,  for  the  institution  of  a  board  of 
commissioners  (representing  the  nine  judicial  districts  of  the  Republic)  for  the  regulation  of  commerce 
carried  by  railroads  among  the  several  States.  Nothing  more  was  done.  In  that  movement,  a  new 
organization,  known  as  the  "Patrons  of  Husbandry,"  took  a  conspicuous  part.  It  was  a  secret  order  for 
the  promotion  of  the  various  interests  of  agriculture,  and  had  then  become  powerful  in  numbers  and 
influence.  Its  growth  had  been  marvellous.  It  was  divided  into  local  associations  known  as  "Granges." 
There  was  a  central  or  parent  organization,  called  the  National  Grange,  established  at  the  capital  of  the 
Republic.  State  Granges  were  formed,  with  subordinate  Granges  in  towns  and  counties.  The  member 
ship  consisted  of  men  and  women  interested  in  agricultural  pursuits. 

These  Granges  first  appeared  in  1870.  Their  wonderful  growth  began  in  1871,  when  there  were  only 
ninety  in  the  whole  country;  in  1876,  when  they  reached  their  maximum  in  strength,  there  were  nineteen 
thousand.  As  the  organization  grew  into  immense  proportions,  politicians  tried  to  seduce  the  Granges 
to  their  support;  but  the  imperative  rule  of  the  Order,  that  no  political  or  religious  topics  should  be 
discussed  at  their  meetings,  foiled  the  politicians.  In  its  aim,  the  organization  was  an  admirable  one; 
and  it  was  the  first  of  the  secret  societies  (for  it  had  secret  pass-words  and  methods  of  admission)  which 
has  admitted  women  to  full  membership.  How  could  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry  do  otherwise,  when  the 
work  and  influence  of  women  in  the  business  of  agriculture  in  our  country  are  so  important  ?  The  value 
of  their  exertions  may  be  estimated,  in  a  degree,  when  we  consider  the  vast  amount  of  mental  and  physical 
labor  now  performed,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  women  in  the  food  production  of  our  country,  as  in  all 
others.  In  the  annual  production  here  of  more  than  six  hundred  million  pounds  of  butter  and  two  hundred 
and  fifty  million  pounds  of  cheese,  a  very  large  proportion  is  the  result  of  woman's  labor,  besides  their 
attention  to  poultry,  the  gathering  of  honey,  and  the  products  of  the  garden  and  orchard.  In  the  Great 
West,  and  especially  among  the  foreign-born  population,  women  do  a  vast  amount  of  planting,  weeding, 
cultivating,  haying,  harvesting,  and  even  caring  for  live-stock. 

The  Indian,  whose  dusky  visage  has  appeared  prominent  on  almost  every  page  of  our  national  history, 
from  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  Northmen  until  now,  became  a  conspicuous  object  again  at  the  beginning 
of  1875.  All  through  that  year  there  were  either  threatened  or  actual  hostilities  on  the  part  of  the 
barbarians.  General' George  A.  Custer  had  been  sent  into  the  region  known  as  the  Black  Hills,  with  a 
military  force,  to  examine  and  report  upon  the  state  of  affairs  there.  It  is  a  region  that  had  been  set 
apart,  by  our  Government,  as  a  reservation  for  the  powerful  and  warlike  Sioux  Indians.  They  are  the 
most  numerous  of  all  the  tribes,  and  more  difficult  to  conquer  than  any  body  of  barbarians  within  our 
domain.  It  is  estimated  that  if  they  should  rally  all  their  strength,  they  might  muster  ten  thousand 
warriors.  The  Black  Hills,  which  had  been  assigned  to  them,  occupy  portions  of  the  Territories  of  Dakota 
and  Wyoming.  Custer  was  charmed  with  the  beauty  and  apparent  fertility  of  that  region  of  country. 
He  reported  it  to  be  another  Florida  in  the  exuberance  of  its  floral  beauty,  and  also  extremely  rich  in 
precious  metals.  The  cupidity  of  frontiermen  was  excited,  and  very  soon  prospecting  miners  appeared 
on  the  Sioux  domain.  Instructed  by  past  experience  of  the  bad  faith  of  our  Government,  the  Indians 
saw  in  these  movements  a  sure  sign  of  their  final  dispossession  of  these  fair  lands.  Their  jealousy  was 
aroused.  Their  suspicions  were  well  founded;  for  near  the  close  of  1874,  a  bill  was  introduced  into 
Congress  which  provided  for  the  extinguishment  of  the  Indian  title  to  so  much  of  the  Black  Hills 
reservation  as  lay  within  the  Territory  of  Dakota. 

In  the  spring  of  1875,  Mr.  Jenny,  Government  geologist,  was  sent  to  the  Black  Hills  country  to  make 
a  survey  of  that  region.  He  was  escorted  by  six  companies  of  cavalry  and  two  of  infantry.  This  invasion 
of  their  reservation,  and  the  significant  presence  of  surveyors,  confirmed  the  suspicions  of  the  Sioux,  of  the 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


509 


VIEWS  AT  WEST  POINT 


510  A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

design  of  our  Government  to  deprive  them  of  these  lands;  and  all  through  that  year  they  showed  such 
unmistakable  signs  of  preparations  for  war  to  defend  their  domain,  that  early  in  187(1  a  strong  military 
force  was  sent  into  the  region  of  the  Yellowstone  River,  in  Montana  Territory  and  the  adjoining  region, 
to  watch  the  movements  of  the  barbarians.  Finally,  a  campaign  against  them  was  organized.  The 
general  plan  was  for  the  military  force  to  make  a  simultaneous  movement,  under  experienced  leaders,  in 
three  columns — one  from  the  Department  of  the  Platte,  led  by  General  Crooke;  one  from  the  Department 
of  Dakota,  commanded  by  General  Terry;  and  a  third  from  the  Territory  of  Montana,  led  by  General 
Gibbon.  The  latter  was  to  move  with  his  column  down  the  Valley  of  the  Yellowstone,  to  prevent  the 
Sioux  from  escaping  northward ;  General  Custer,  at  the  same  time,  pushing  across  the  country  from  the 
Missouri  to  the  Yellowstone  to  drive  the  Indians  toward  General  Gibbon;  while  General  Crooke  was  to 
scout  the  Black  Hills  and  drive  out  any  of  the  hostile  Sioux  that  might  be  found  there.  The  expedition 
was  under  the  chief  command  of  General  Alfred  H.  Terry,  a  brave,  judicious,  and  experienced  officer. 
He  and  his  staff  accompanied  Cuiter  from  Fort  Abraham  Lincoln  to  the  Yellowstone  River.  On  their 
arrival  in  the  vicinity,  at  about  the  first  of  June  (1876),  and  communicating  with  General  Gibbon,  they 
found  that  Indians  were  in  that  neighborhood,  in  large  numbers,  and  well  supplied  with  munitions  of  war. 

The  reports  of  scouts  caused  a  belief  that  the  Indians,  with  their  great  movable  village,  were  in  the 
meshes  of  the  net  prepared  for  them  near  the  waters  of  the  Big  and  Little  Horn,  Powder  and  Tongue 
rivers  (tributaries  of  the  Yellowstone),  and  Rosebud  Creek.  The  concentrated  troops  began  to  feel  for 
themselves.  On  the  iyth  of  June,  Crooke  had  a  sharp  fight  with  a  superior  force  of  Sioux,  who  were 
thoroughly  armed  and  equipped,  and  was  obliged  to  retreat.  Terry  and  Gibbon  met  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Rosebud.  Custer  wras  there,  at  the  head  of  the  stronger  column,  consisting  of  the  whole  of  the  Seventh 
regiment  of  cavalry,  composed  of  twelve  companies,  and  he  was  ordered  to  make  the  attack.  He  and 
Gibbon  marched  toward  the  vicinity  of  the  Big  Horn  River.  Custer  arrived  first  and  discovered  an 
immense  Indian  camp  on  a  plain.  He  had  been  directed  to  await  the  arrival  of  Gibbon,  to  co-operate 
with  him,  before  making  an  attack ;  but  inferring  that  the  Indians  were  moving  off,  he  directed  Colonel 
Reno  to  attack  them  at  one  point  with  seven  companies  of  the  cavalry,  while  he  dashed  off  with  five 
companies  (about  three  hundred  men)  to  attack  at  another  point.  A  terrible  struggle  ensued  pn  the  25th 
of  June,  1876,  with  a  body  of  Indians,  in  number  five  to  one  of  the  white  men.  They  were  commanded 
by  an  educated,  bold  and  skillful  chief  named  "Sitting  Bull."  Custer  and  almost  his  entire  command 
were  slain.  Two  hundred  and  sixty-one  were  killed  and  fifty  were  wounded. 

With  .General  Custer  perished  two  of  his  brothers,  a  brother-in-law,  and  other  gallant  officers.  Many 
of  them  had  doubtless  been  murdered  after  they  had  been  captured,  and  their  bodies  were  horribly  muti 
lated.  The  body  of  the  general  was  afterward  found  and  fully  identified.  It  was  taken  to  Fort  Abraham 
Lincoln,  in  Dakota  Territory,  where  provision  was  made  for  its  conveyance  to  West  Point,  on  the  Hudson 
River,  for  interment.  It  was  at  first  sent  to  Poughkeepsie,  at  midsummer,  1877,  and  deposited  in  the 
receiving  vault  of  the  Rural  Cemetery  there,  where  it  remained  until  the  loth  of  October  following,  when 
it  was  conveyed  to  West  Point,  with  a  certificate  from  the  post-surgeon  of  Fort  Lincoln,  that  the  burial 
casket  contained  "the  remains  of  General  George  A.  Custer,  lieutenant-colonel  Seventh  cavalry,  killed  at 
the  battle  of  Big  Horn  River,  June  25,  1876."  The  casket  containing  the  remains  was  escorted  to  the 
steamboat  that  conveyed  it  to  West  Point,  by  Poughkeepsie  military,  followed  by  the  mayor  and  common 
council  of  that  city,  and  a  large  number  of  citizens  in  carriages  and  on  foot.  It  was  received  at  West  Point 
by  a  guard  of  honor,  and  buried  with  imposing  ceremonies,  religious  and  military. 

•  The  news  of  the  destruction  of  Custer  and  his  command  produced  much  excitement  throughout  the 
country;  and  the  Government  immediately  ordered  a  large  military  force  into  the  region  of  the  Black 
Hills,  for  the  purpose  of  utterly  crushing  the  power  of  the  Sioux.  Sitting  Bull  and  his  followers,  anticipating 
severe  chastisement,  at  length  withdrew  into  the  British  possessions,  where  they  remained  until  the  summer 
of  1881. 


A    II IX  TORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


511 


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512 


A    HISTORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 


U.    S.    MILITARY   FORCES   DURING  WAR   OF    1861-1865. 


Condensed  from  official  reports  from  the  War  Department. 


Jamuuv  1,  1801,  the  military  forces  of  the  United  States  con 
sisted  of  i  regular  army  numbering  14,6(53  present,  1,704  abncnt, 
making  sn  aggregate  of  1(5,3(57  officers  and  men. 

April  :.o,  1861,  the  President  issued  a  call  for  75,000  three 
months'  militia,  under  which  the  States  furnished  a  total  of 
91,81(i  men. 

May  E,  1861,  and  under  the  acts  of  Congress  of  July  22  and 
25,  1861.  the  President  issued  a  call  for  83,000  three  years'  men. 

In  May  and  June,  1861,  by  special  authority,  1 5,007  men 
were  enlisted  for  three  months. 

Under  the  call  of  July  2,  1862,  for  300,000  men  for  three  years, 
421,465  officers  and  men  were  furnished. 

Under  the  call  of  August  4,  1862,  for  300,000  militia  for  nine 
months,  only  87,588  men  were  furnished. 

Undo.-  the  President's  proclamation  of  June  15,  18(13,  for 
militia  ior  six  months,  1(5,3(51  men  were  furnished. 

Under  the  call  of  October  17,  1863,  which  embraced  men 
raised  ty  draft  in  1863,  and  under  the  call  of  February  1,  1864, 
the  two  calls  being  combined,  and  for  500,000  men  for  three 
years,  317,092  men  were  furnished,  52,288  men  paid  commu 
tation,  nuking  a  total  of  369,380  men. 

Undrr  the  call  of  March  14,  1864,  for  200,000  for  throe  years, 
259,5U  men  were  furnished,  32,678  paid  commutation,  making 
a  total  of  292,193  men. 

Between  April  23  and  July  18,  1864,  there  were  mustered  into 
the  seivicc,  for  100  days,  113,000  militia. 

Und»r  the  call  of  July  18,  1864,  for  500,000  men  for  one,  two, 
three,  and  four  years'  service  there  were  furnished:  223,044 
men  for  one  year;  8,430  men  for  two  years;  153,049  men  for  three 
years;  730  men  for  four  years;  1,298  men  paid  commutation, 
making  a  total  of  386,461  men;  this  call  was  reduced  by  excess 
of  credits  on  previous  calls. 

-  Under  the  call  of  December  19,  1864,  for  300,000  men  for  one, 
two,  three,  and  four  years,  the  States  furnished:  151,363  men 
for  ore  year,  5,110  men  for  two  years,  54,967  men  for  three 
years,  312  men  for  four  years;  460  men  paid  commutation, 
making  a  total  of  212,212  men. 

One  hundred  and  eighty-two  thousand  two  hundred  and 
fifty-seven  volunteers  and  militia  were  furnished  by  States  and 
Territories,  not  called  upon  for  their  quota,  166,848  of  whom 
were  for  three  years,  and  the  balance  for  periods  from  sixty  days 
to  one,  year. 

Th  •  grand  aggregate  of  troops  called  for  is  2,763,670  men,  and 
there  were  furnished  by  the  States  and  Territories  2,772,408  men, 
and  86,724  paid  commutation,  making  an  aggregate  of  2,859,132 
men.  This  aggregate,  reduced  to  a  three  years'  standard, 
would  make  a  total  number  of  2,320,372. 

Soine  of  the  States  and  Territories,  to  whom  no  quotas  were 
assigned,  as  already  stated,  furnished  men,  which  fact  will  ac 
count  for  the  apparent  excess,  in  some  instances,  of  the  men 
furnished  over  the  number  called  for.  There  were  in  the  service 
of  flic  U.  S.: 


July  1,  1861 


14,108 

169,480 

183,588 

2,214 

849 

3,063 

(Irand   total  

January  1,  1862. 
Present  Regulars-  

19,871 
507,333 

186,651 
527,204 

2,554 

46,159 

48,713 

Grand  total  
March  31,  1862. 

19,169 

575,917 

514,399 

533,568 

Absent  Regulars  

3,723 
99,419 

103,142 

636,710 

January  1,  1863. 

Present  Regulars  
Present  Volunteers  

19,169 
679,632 
6,294 

798,801 

263,095 

269,389 

Grand  total 

1,068,190 

January  1,  1864. 

17,237 

594,013 

611,250 

.      .  .            7,399 

242,088 

249,487 

860,737 

January  1,  1865. 

14,661 

606,363 

621,024 

7,358 

331,178 

338,536 

Grand  total 

959,560 

March  31,  1865. 
Present  Regulars  

13,880 

643,867 

657,747 

Absent  Regulars  

7,789 
314,550 

322,339 

980,08(5 

May  1,  1866. 

787,807 

202,709 

Grand  total    . 

990,516 

THIi  END. 


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